Prince (A Writing Sketch)
by PurpleCreations
Summary: A series of writing sketches taken from the point of view of Naoto Shirogane. I am writing this mostly for practice, and I would like to get through all of Persona 4 if I'm able. I'll keep going as long as people continue to read and comment. [Previously Persona 4: Naoto (A Writing Sketch)] (Cover image by me)
1. The Beginning of my Hectic Morning

September thirteenth, 2011. The day started off as usual, not that I had expected much out of it in the first place. I carried out my casual morning routine, which mainly entailed the following: I woke up, rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes, removed my sleepwear, tediously bound my chest, and changed into my daily attire. However, rather than changing into my regular school uniform, I decided to simply change into the bright turquoise shirt, dark pants and yellow tie I preferred to wear during these warmer months. I was not going to be attending school today. I proceeded to the bathroom across the hall from my bedroom, squinting my eyes through the blinding light when I flicked on the light switch. As soon as they adjusted, I turned toward the mirror, my own reflection catching my eye. I paused, gazing at myself, a twinge of hatred stinging at my heart. It sickened me to know the reality of what was staring back at me from the other side of the mirror, which seemed all too much like a window, revealing some person I did not know. However, sadly, this person was all too familiar.

Without taking my eyes off my reflection, I leaned against the sink, taking a moment to really look over myself. I couldn't get over the appearance of the top of my head. It was too smooth and too neat... Too feminine. My nose wrinkled in disgust and I retreated to my room, whisking the navy blue newsboy hat I was given a few years back from the nightstand by my bed, and returning to the bathroom. Peering back into the mirror, I placed the hat securely on my head, covering up the feminine crown of dark blue hair. _There,_ I thought to myself, somewhat satisfied, _Now, that eyesore is concealed..._

I filled my lungs with as much air as I could, feeling the binding tighten around my chest as it expanded. My chest tended to be sore as a result of binding it every day, but it was a necessary suffering. Over time, I had become attoned to the tightness of it anyway, and felt insecure when I did not wear it. I exhaled, letting my ribs collapse, and the tightness lessened. I took a few minutes to thoroughly brush my teeth, and when I finished, I curiously stuck out my tongue, examining it with no definite reason. I then opened my mouth and peered into the back of my throat, out of pure curiosity. Suddenly, I noticed what I was doing, and abruptly shut my mouth, nearly biting my tongue in the process. My face immediately reddened as I tried to forget what I had just been doing. I stared, embarrassed with myself, into the reflection of my own deep, bluish grey eyes. I pulled the brim of my hat down in front of my face. It was childish nonsense and I was wasting time.

When I had finished getting ready, I heard the quiet clicking of computer keys as I walked down the stairs and into the main foyer of my estate. Entering the kitchen, I made no eye contact with the grey-haired man typing busily at his desk. The bitter, welcoming smell of coffee lingered in the air, and I retrieved a mug from the pantry at the sight of a full coffee pot. "Good morning, Yakushiji-san," I said, my first words of the day escaping raspily from my mouth.  
Yakushiji spared but a glance back at me, absorbed in whatever he was working on. "Good morning, Naoto-sama. You seem to be up earlier than usual."

"Yes, well," I said, pouring the rich, black coffee into my mug. "I have some affairs to attend to this morning." I faced him, leaning casually on the side of the counter as I took a swig of the steaming black coffee. It was rather bitter for my liking, but I wouldn't be so wavered as to add cream or sugar.

Yakushiji sighed. "It wouldn't have anything to do with those damned murder cases again, would it?"

I scoffed, wrinkling my nose. "Am I not allowed to have an opinion on the matter? As I have told you, as well as the others, something just doesn't sit right with me. I have a very strong feeling that something may be missing in this equation. I don't know what, or why, but I know that something is mot accounted for; something the police refuse to look into. I have a gut feeling about this!"

Yakushiji rubbed his forehead, taking his hands off the keys for the time being. "Well, maybe you should listen a little less to your _gut_ and more to your elders. Naoto-sama, both your grandfather and I support your idea about this, but you must think about what is best. You are putting too much stress on yourself, when your priority at the moment should be getting along with the rest of the department, and more importantly, your schoolwork. Don't forget that you are also still a child."

The words hurt like needles. _A Child._ I had to stop myself from cringing, and it was even harder to resist lashing out. I swallowed the horrid emotions and tried to ignore it. "That aside," I said ater taking a rather large gulp of coffee, "The affairs I speak of have little do do with the cases." I placed the empty mug in the kitchen sink and wiped the corner of my mouth with my sleeve. Grabbing an orange from a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table, I started for the front door.

"Is that so," Yakushiji began to type again, and sighed. "Honestly, Naoto... We do care very much about you, and maybe you should take a little while just to relax and be an adolescent while you still are."

I paused, my right hand placed on the handle of the door. My shoulders were shrugged insecurely, and I tensely gripped the orange in my left hand. "Adolescence is just an excuse to slack off," I said before sliding open the door and walking out into the crisp September air.


	2. The Continuation of my Hectic Morning

UPDATE: Whoops, for some reason, when I originally posted this it came up being the same as the first chapter. Sorry about that! Here's the REAL second part.

I had peeled away most of the orange's outer covering, discarding the little bits to the street below. A trail of orange peels had begun to form behind me as I made my way into the northern part of the central shopping district. The wind began to pick up, and some of the peels were blown around and scattered in all directions. I didn't mind leaving them around; they would either erode away or be eaten by animals in time anyway. The shopping district was also barren and devoid of human life, it seemed, as well, but it was a beautiful morning. Sunlight was beginning to flood over the horizon, and the earthy smell of fallen leaves had begun to linger in the air. Autumn was very close, and the temperature had become cooler over the past few days.  
The orange was now completely peeled and ready to be eaten. I delicately separated one segment of it and raised it to my mouth. However, before I could take a bite, something caught my eye which made me stop in my tracks. I peered over to the side of the street, where the big, red arch of the Tatsuhime shrine stood. Beneath the shrine was a small animal, not much bigger than a large cat. It had been staring at me. This animal was a little red fox, covered in strange scars, wearing what looked to be a small red apron of some sort. The sight somewhat startled me, and all I could do was stare back at it. It did not move; it only sat there, its head down, staring up at me with a modest expression.  
I looked at the segment of orange I held in my fingers, and then back to the fox. It looked as if it was fairly urbanized, especially since it did not seem to fear me. After hesitating, I approached it with caution, reaching out the orange segment as far as I could, should it have snapped at me. The fox took its eyes off me to look at the orange segment I held in front of its snout. It examined it, unmoving.

"Do you want some?" I asked quietly. I tend to be somewhat of a considerate person... On my sixteenth birthday at the end of the past April, for example, I had felt awkward and guilty having to accept the gifts my visiting family members gave me, especially considering the fact that they seemed rather expensive and valuable. My family is fairly wealthy, the gnerations before me being notorious detectives, but recieving such gifts always tends to make me a bit squeamish. I am more of a giver than a receiver, though I like to make things rather than buy them.

The fox sniffed at the orange. "You can have some of it," I said, "Go on, it's alright." It looked up at me again before quickly snatching up the segment. I flinched and pulled my hand away from its jaws, but then saw that it had only taken the small orange segment from me, and began to nibble at it when it placed it on the ground before its dark paws. I smiled softly, and when the fox had finished, it looked back up at me and trilled out in appreciation. Then, it rose to its feet and scurried off in the dirwction of the shrine.

As I watched the little red fox disappear into the brush, I remembered the old ghost stories my grandfather would tell me when I was a child, about kitsunes and how you must always treat them with respect, as they can be guardians to watch over us and protect us, as well as symbols of good fortune and loyalty. Grinning at the silliness of the subject, I shook it out of my mind. Kitsunes... Nothing but more childish nonsense. Peeling another segment away from the orange, I continued walking through the shopping district and started on my breakfast.

I downed the orange rather quickly and reached my first destinaton, Samegawa flood plain, in due time. There wasn't a soul to be seen. "Perfect," I mumbled under my breath. It seemed that getting up early had been a promising decision. This way, I could wait in the peaceful quiet of somewhere concealed, before the students began to arrive and follow me around again from all directions. I eyed a sizeable tree, and without hesitation, I approached it and ducked behind it, so that I may have been unseen from the road.

I waited there, in the shade of the tree and the peace of the natural ambience around me. I thought about many things. I thought about the case, mainly, as lately it seemed like my brain would not stop analyzing it. I thought of prior theories and current theories over and over. I also thought of the talk show I had been on the previous day. I would have rather not done it, but it was a necessary sacrifice... I thought of the group of students I had been hoping to have a word with, which was the reason I was here as my first matter of business for the day, and I thought of what skipping school would potentially do to my grades. No matter, I would just make up whatever I missed; I have a very advanced mind for my age anyway. Academic matters came rather easily to me. I thought of my Grampa and Yakushiji-san, and my chest tightened when I remembered the conversation I had with Yakushiji-san that morning. I also thought of many other things, of the girls who always followed me around, stared at me, whispered about me, flirted with me... They were relentless, and refused to leave me alone. The things the girls would say about me were always good things, never bad things... But I had no interest in them. I had no interest in anyone, unless they were a factor in this case.

Birds had just begun to awaken, and were singing quietly in the canopies. Slowly, the small town of Inaba began to rise from its sleep, and it was somewhat fascinating to listen to it. The sounds of car engines starting echoed in the distance, and soon, the casual sound of them making their ways to their countless, varying destinations filled the air. A small drop of dew splattered on the peak of my cap, taking me by surprise as it splashed the tip of my nose. I looked upward, toward the rustling leaves of the tree, which were glittering with dewdrops and glowing a bright, yellowing green with the sunlight that shone through. They were just beginning to change colors, but they were still strikingly green. I stared up at the twisting branches, feeling a sort of noatalgia and longing. Examining the great boughs of the tree, I considered climbing up into them. I could look down to the road below that wa, without being seen by anyone. The leaves and branches seemed to be just thick enough to cover me- No. Th thought was childish. You don't have to climb trees, Naoto, you are well hidden the way you are. I sunk down against the base of the tree and sat between its roots, wrapping mt arms around my knees. Still... It was so very tempting, to be up in that high place, without anyone seeing me. I waited in the shade as students' voices began to ring out and draw closer. Soon, the road beside me was filled with walking teenagers on their way to school, all talking about their own individual conversations. Meaningless things, I kept thinking to myself. They're all talking about such meaningless things as gossip and rumors and only spouting hot air, while I myself am on important duties. Why are they so ignorant? They're only an nuisance to me...

Soon, I heard a familiar voice. I instantly realized that it was the voice of Rise Kujikawa. Other familiar voices soon chimed in, and I peered out from behind the tree. Sure enough, some of the students I had been keeping my eye on, whom I had associated with during the school trip to Tatsumi Port Island, were conversing together. The students I saw were as follows: Two of the suspected victims, Rise Kujkawa and Yukiko Amagi; as well as three of the others I had only been recently introduced to, who as I recall were named Chie, Yosuke and... The last student's name I could not bring myself to remember, but he was the peculiar one who had caught my eye early on in the investigation, the quiet, androgynous student with plain, silvery hair.

I stood, stretched, and walkd out from behind the tree. As I approached them, I saw that they were talking deeply about something, but I could not make out the words they were saying. They did not seem to notice me, surprisingly, until I spoke up.

"Good morning," I said as I neared them. They all turned their heads to me as I came closer, and then I stopped, just short of their group, my hand placed inquisitively on my waist. "I've been waiting for you all," I continued when they did not say anything, but rather looked at me as if they were surprised to see me. Did they not know what I was here to do? Shouldn't it have been obvious? I am a detective, after all. "There's something I needed to discuss with you regarding the case."

Yosuke, the student with the rather long, unkempt brown hair, spoke up. "Discuss? Dude, we'll be late if we talk too long..." He looked worried, and then seemed to notice my casual, bright turquoise shirt. "Hey, where's your uniform?"

"Could you please indulge my current theory on the matter?" I insisted.

"What is it...?" Yosuke asked.  
I turned away, pondering what needed to be said. "First, as regards commonalities between the victims, all of them were kidnapped before they were murdered. The victims were all locals who had been the focus of recent media attention, becoming suddenly well-known... That is the most likely scenario." They listened to me, but didn't seem too interested. In fact, they even seemed to be a bit annoyed. "I don't believe there is anything intrinsically uniquw about the victims themselves." I looked around at th lot of thim, but they still did not answer immediately. Turning back to face them, I attempted to provoke feedback out of them. "...Haven't you all come to the same conclusion?"

"Yeah, we did," said the silver-haired student. The others looked at him uneasily.

I nodded. "Then, allow me to state my point. Will you admit that a number of you fit these identical circumstances? There was a long interval between the second and third deaths in this case. But after I applied the aforementioned criteria, I discovered several similar disappearances had taken place." I looked around at each one of them. "Yukiko Amagi. Kanji Tatsumi. Rise Kujikawa. All of you disappeared shortly after being shown on TV... Either you escaped death, or you faked your own disappearences in order to divert attention from yourselves. Since some of you had ties to the victims, there came a point where I suspected one of you must be the culprit."

"You thought one of us was the killer?!" the small brunette girl, Chie, piped up. "You can't be serious!"

"This was a prior theory, since discarded," I quickly stated to avoid conflict. "Putting together everything I've learned up until this moment, I believe exactly the opposite. You aren't the culprits. You may, in fact, be the only ones with the means to pursue the true perpetrator... Seen as a joining force between the rescued, everything falls into place. ...Of course, this is all speculation." I turned away again, letting myself think. "There in fact is a flaw in the theory. It doesn't account for the third incident, Mr. Morooka's murder. He has never been broadcast on television, and neither did he ever disappear. We must also consider the condition of his corpse. Th first two victims are still listed with an unknown cause of death... But Mr. Morooka died of an easily identifiable blunt force to the occipital cranium. The police have not yet satisfactorily resolved this discrepancy, yet they are desperate to close the case. Further action will be necessary to obtain some sort of decisive evidence."

Chie spoke up again. "Further action...? What do you mean?"

"Well," I said, turning back, "Whatever the outcome... The evidence should come to light." I was silent for a moment, and swallowed hard before looking at Rise and Yukiko with a sharp expression. "...You said something interesting to me not long ago." After that, I began to walk past them, breaking eye contact after a few seconds and proceeding to walk away.

"Hey," said Yosuke, "Where are you going?"

I narrowed my eyes without a glance back, and stopped. "This is not a game for me, either."

"Naoto-kun...?" said Yukiko. Without another word, I proceeded onward up the road.


	3. My Inglorious Outburst

I had walked around Samegawa, the shopping district, and even Junes, but I still had not seen anyone suspicious whatsoever. I didn't understand. I had been on TV the previous night, made myself completely vulnerable... Yet I had not even sensed the slightest suspicious activity. It was nearly the end of school hours when things began to sink in for me. The thought of what I was ultimately planning to do began to phase me... After all, I had been planning to make myself bait for this extremely elusive culprit... The reason I had attended that talk show the night before. If the police would not address my theory, then I was faced with no choice but to take the case into my own hands. It was a necessary risk I had to take. I started to feel somewhat melancholy, and found myself with a heavy feeling in my chest as I sat at one of the tables outside Souzai Daigaku. I tried to force this useless feeling out of me, but the attempt was to no avail. I sighed, and then looked up as a shadow fell upon me.

"Shirogane," said the familiar voice of detective Tohru Adachi, "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school? ...What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" I said, stiffening up and trying to flush all hint of emotion out of my appearance.

"I donno," Adachi said, scratching the back of his head with one hand in his pocket, "You just kinda looked sad."

"I have no interest in such emotions, however irrelevant," I said, "But if you must know, I was simply pondering my theories on the case."

Adachi sighed, seeming somewhat hopeless. "Listen," he said, taking a seat in the chair across from me, "Don't you think you're getting a little too into all of this?"

I grunted. "It's a serial murder case; I don't think it's possible to get 'too into it.' Plus, we still haven't gotten a valid explanation from Kubo."

"And that's just it," Adachi said, "We've questioned the hell out of him, but we can't get any answers that actually make sense. He just keeps saying things like 'I did it because I was pissed off,' or 'everybody just bugs me, I have no other reason...' We're probably going to send him in for a mental examination, because that kid doesn't exactly seem like he's all there. You know what I'm saying?" He chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck before growing slightly more serious. "Still... It's a shame those people had to die because of a simple mental disorder."

"But what if it isn't a mental disorder?" I insisted, " What if Kubo is making this all up? His story seems rather flimsy to me."

"Naoto-kun," Adachi practically chuckled, "Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously? I mean, if he says he's the killer, he probably is. Who in the world would turn themselves in for a serial murder case if they weren't the real criminal?"

"I don't know," I said, "But even if he was the murderer, why would he turn himself in in the first place?"

"Maybe he got cold feet?" Adachi shrugged, "Guilt? The mental disorder I mentioned? People turn themselves in for crimes all the time, Shirogane, that's something you'll notice later on in your career."

"This just doesn't seem right to me," I growled, "We need to keep investigating."

Adachi looked at me with a face of pain and pity. He sighed regretfully, and tried to look into my eyes, though I remained deep in thought and stared at the table in front of me, crossing my arms. "Shirogane," Adachi said quietly, "I was told not to say anything until it was confirmed, but I think you should know this... We're putting a close on this case today."

The words struck like ice straight through my gut. I widened my eyes in shock, and looked up at him. "What?! Why?" Subconsciously, my fist pounded into the table. Adachi-san jumped back in surprise. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Er... C-calm down!" Adachi stuttered, "There's no reason not to close it! We have a culprit in custody and he fully admits to everything! Plus, this case has been going on for more than four months now, and we have other issues to address."

"Other issues?!" I said, fuming so badly that I could have sworn I could breathe fire, "You just want to put an end to this case because it's tiring! This isn't dedication, this is forefeit! It's laziness!"

"Watch your mouth, Shirogane," Adachi said, suddenly getting more serious and standing up, "I wouldn't speak that way to an authority figure. Have some respect for your elders."

_Respect for my elders?_ My blood was boiling. My face reddened as I began to grind my teeth in frustration. No. I wasn't going to stop. Not just like that. I'd had it. I stood up as well, slamming my hands into the table. "From the beginning, this police department has had absolutely no advance on the case. That's why the perfectual police called me in, isn't it? I thought this case was just more difficult than others for you all, but it turns out the only reason I'm needed is because you are all just a pack of lazy, retroactive imbeciles! You're so desperate just to close the case that the second someone comes into custody, you all jump to arrest him and put a close on all of this without another word, and you won't even take into account what I, who the perfectual police sent in as special help, think is best for us to do! I will NOT be treated like a child!" I didn't notice how loud I had been yelling. Everything around me seemed quiet. I stared into Adachi's eyes, my own eyes like razors, piercing painfully into him. I could sense the uncomfortable feeling I was giving him, as well as a hint of fear. Everyone in the shopping district had paused. I felt the likes of many eyes on me, staring coldly and savagely at the police officer before me. I didn't care. I was outraged.

Adachi narrowed his eyes. He seemed slightly embarrassed that I had yelled at him in front of all these people. "Don't forget," he said, "You still _are_ a child./i"

"Ngh," I grunted, my expression softening. My heart fell, and my whole body went somewhat limp.

"Shirogane," Adachi said, turning to walk away, "You're off the case."

Urgency arose within me. My eyes widened again. "What...?"

"Unless," Adachi said, hands in his pockets, turning to face me with a smug grin, "You can swallow your pride and take back what you just said. And that includes shutting up about the case from now on, and letting the police handle what the police are assigned to do."

I was silent. Swallowing hard, I looked down at my quivering fingers, still pressed against the table. I didn't want to be taken off this case, but I also didn't want to ignore my gut feeling on the matter. It was too strong. I was completely speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Suit yourself," Adachi said, turning back and beginning to casually walk away, "Apparently your pride is more important to you than your job. You're going to need to learn to reverse that sometime in the future, if you want to continue it. Good luck, Ace Detective Shirogane." With that, he walked off, disappearing from the central shopping district.

My heart was racing, and adrenaline was still pulsing through my veins. I looked around. The people flooding the shopping district had all been staring at me. Through the silence, a small girl began to cry. My heart sank, and my face became pale. This innocent little girl was crying, scared stiff because of _my_ yelling. A lump grew in my throat. I tried to swallow it down, but it would not leave. My heart cried out to the little girl... And something in me almost felt relatable to her... No, I would not admit that. I had nothing in common with that crying little girl. Nothing at all. Though... I still felt sorry for her. I felt sorry for everyone whom I had forced to witness my outburst. It was a stupid, _stupid_ childish thing to do... I felt hot tears well up behind my eyes, but I refused to let them come out. Seeing nothing else to do, I panicked, running off down the road toward my house.

It was late afternoon when I arrived at my house, slightly after when I would have usually gotten home, had I gone to school. As I entered through the front door, a rush of the homey scent of my house, consisting mainly of the scents of wood panel flooring and old, dusty books, came over me. However, its usual relaxing effects on me did not come into play. I slammed the door in frustration, making no hesitation as I crossed the parlor and climbed the stairs to my room.

My Grampa had been readying himself for work, it seemed. He was putting on the coat he usually wore during investigations, a fresh cigar hanging out of his mouth. Yakushiji-san had been with him. I suspected they had been conversing prior to my arrival, as they had both had cheerful grins on their faces, the ones they always wore right after a good, hearty laugh.

Grampa followed me with his eyes as I stormed inside. "Naoto-chan?" he said, sounding concerned as his smile collapsed.

"I told you not to call me Naoto-chan," I said, freezing on the stairs, but not turning around.

"Naoto-_kun,_" he corrected himself, "Is something wrong?"

"Did something happen at school?" Yakushiji-san asked.

"I'm fine," I lied, still fuming inside, "I just need some time alone."

"Alright..." my grandfather said, "Do you need anything? Shall I get you a drink or something?"

I had reached the door to my room and opened it, my shoulders hunched in insecurity and anger. "Some ginger ale, if you could... I'm having a bit of indigestion." I slammed the door behind me.


	4. The Bait is Taken

**ATTENTION: I am giving readers the opportunity to name the protagonist. Whether it's Yu Narukami, Souji Seta or something completely different, please leave a review and tell me what I should name him! Even if you don't care, just please take a few seconds to leave a suggestion. It would really help! Thank you!**

**-Purple**

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**(6/8/13) I had to change some things in order to make it a bit more accurate, as well as fix a few mistakes.**

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September fourteenth.

I was off the case. Off. The. Case. It had taken me a very long time to be able to comprehend this. When I was finally able to accept the fact that I had been discarded, I made my decision. I was going to continue investigating, even if I wasn't an official part of the case. I am a detective. Detectives do whatever they need in order to find the truth. The truth itself is my only needed reward.  
It was raining. It had been raining all day. The wind blew against the window in front of my desk, splattering it with rainwater as I looked through my countless investigation files. I had convinced my grandfather to let me stay home for the time being, insisting it was best for the case. After going through the previous kidnappings over and over, to try and find any other possible factor they may have shared, I finally identified something. In fact, I shunned myself for having been so careless as not to have seen this before. After staring at the pictures, articles and documents I had taped to the wall next to my desk, confined in my dark room with my laptop as my only light, it hit me. My eyes widened, actually, however sunken they were from my lack of sleep, as I stood up from my chair and inspected all these articles.

"Yes," I said, my voice sounding raspy, "Of course... Why have I not noticed this before?" I peered closely, unmoving, at the scribbles of katanaka written in black and blue ink in my own handwriting, on sheets of paper covering the wall.

_Yukiko Amagi...April 16, reported missing from home by her mother...said to have been helping out at the Amagi Inn at the time...  
Kanji Tatsumi...May 17...reported missing by his mother..."leaves home all the time without giving notice"...  
Rise Kujikawa...June 22...reported missing by her grandmother...said to have "stepped out" while working at Marukyu Tofu..._

Yes. This is what I was looking for. "The past three kidnappings," I said, "They all took place from the victims' homes." I groaned. "The first two did not, and those victims were the only ones to be killed, with the exception of Morooka, however irrelevant he may be in this matter." I was beginning to completely neglect Morooka from the case. His death most likely wasn't related to the kidnappings, since the apparent tactics in his murder were so different from the rest. I was so deep in thought that my head began to grow sore, but I didn't care. "I wonder if this may play an important part in the case..." In this case, if the perpetrator was kidnapping the victims from their homes, my intuitive decision to stay home would prove beneficial, if I wanted to lure the culprit to myself.

It was nearly midnight, I observed, as I glanced at the quietly ticking clock hanging on my wall. My eyelids were heavy as if they were made of lead. I hadn't slept the previous night, being so hung up on the case. Glimpsing at my reflection in the mirror on the left side of my desk, I felt disgust well up in me. Dark circles enveloped my eyes, and my hair was a mess from running my fingers through it all day. I looked revolting from all the stress I'd been putting on myself. I yawned, stretching my jaw to its limits, and rubbed my sore eyes, which were beginning to fog up with tiredness. I desperately needed sleep. I was too tired even to move. Without another thought, I rested my head on my crossed arms and fell asleep at my desk. It felt just as comfortable as my bed, it seemed.

Not long after, I was brought back to half-consciousness by the sound of flickering static behind me. My eyes opened slightly, and I caught a blurry view of what looked like the TV screen behind me turning on. Barely awake, I noticed that the picture was extremely unclear, but I could see a very vague silhouette standing in the center. Was this the fabled Midnight Channel I had heard so much about from the locals of Inaba? "...Hm?" I grunted quietly, feeling myself slip back into slumber, "Who is that...?" The TV slowly flickered off, and I regarded it as the illusion of a half-conscious dream. Too exhausted to stay awake any longer, I closed my eyes and let myself sleep.

September fifteenth. My grandfather had been concerned for me before he left for his job. He was worried about my grades, but I insisted to him that this temporary leave of absence would be best for the case, and that I was already overachieving in all my classes. I was beginning to grow edgy. I could stay home for the time being, but I couldn't stay home forever. Eventually I would have to return to school, whether the culprit presented themself or not. I stared at the clock, alone in my dark room, waiting for some type of break-in, or any suspicious activity at all. I jumped at every creak of the house, every time I heard Yakushiji-san get up from his desk downstairs, and every howl of the wind outside. It was still raining. In fact, the rain had begun to come down harder against the roof and windows. I waited in silence, with the pounding of the rain and the ticking of the clock as my only ambience. Yet again, the night drew near. This was agonizing... I just wished something would happen!

Lightning suddenly flashed outside. It illuminated the mirror beside my desk. Peering into it, I was struck yet again with a sense of disgust. The person who stared back at me, curled into a ball on the desk chair beneath them, bore an expression of pure hatred on their face. The expression somewhat scared me, but it more prominently stoked even more hatred inside of me. I uncurled myself and stood up from the desk chair, walking toward the mirror. I stopped in front of it, staring coldly into the empty eyes that stared back. I looked at my own face for a long while, my insides growing hotter and hotter with each progressing moment. I hated this person who dared to look back at me from the other side of the mirror. I hated them with all my heart.

"Look at you," I said as lightning flickered in the distance, "You are pathetic. _Look at you!_" I gritted my teeth, and the image in the mirror did the same.

A lump grew in my throat yet again. My eyes began to water, but I would not let such foolish tears escape them. "It's no wonder the police don't want you around. They never will. They only see you as a child, and God forbid anyone ever sees you as a girl." I began to tremble with anger. My chest felt unbelievably tight, and I felt like I was filled to the brim with white-hot fire. The face looking back at me in the mirror grew even scarier, and I curled my fingers into a tight fist. Unable to hold in my rage any longer, I let out a furious cry and smashed my fist into the mirror. "I'M NOT A CHILD!" A crack ran across the glass, and several others spiderwebbed from where my fist landed. I felt a sharp pain, and a small amount of blood leaked from the side of my palm and trickled down the mirror. I didn't care. I didn't care about _anything._

The dark face in the mirror was now shattered in two parts, but continued to stare at me. For a second, I could have sworn the eyes glowed an ominous gold. "You're such a disgrace," I cried out, "You don't even deserve the title of Shirogane! You don't deserve to belong to this family! You don't deserve _ANYTHING!_" Lightning illuminated my room, and thunder crashed, ricocheting throughout the mountains in the distance. "You are _nothing,_" I hissed, my nose wrinkled in hatred, the eyes in the mirror as cold and heartless as those of a snake.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

The sound was so sudden, I jumped. I hadn't expected it at all. Why would someone be here at this time of the day? The only one home was Yakushiji-san, and my grandfather wouldn't have rung if he had simply come home early... Maybe he was locked out? In any case, I should let Yakushiji answer it... Wait. Something didn't feel right about this. My eyes widened. What if this was my chance?

"I'll get it, Yakushiji-san," I called down the stairs as I hurried out of my room, trying to force all of my previous anger out of my system. He didn't reply, so I assumed he might have been in my grandfather's study. Suspense built up inside me. Time seemed to be passing so slowly. Who could have been at the door? What if it was just one of the neighbors? What if it was just something unimportant? No... My instincts told me that this was strange. This was something different. I swallowed hard, my palms beginning to sweat nervously, and neared the front door as the rain continued to pound against the windows, lightning flashing throughout the sky. Someone was on the other side of that door. I had no dea who it was, or what their intentions might be... But I knew that something was not right. I froze, inches before the door, and raised my hand to grab hold of the door handle, shaking violently. Finally, I fastened my fingers around the handle, and after a moment of hesitation, I summoned all the courage in my heart and pulled it open.

"Mr. Shirogane," I heard, "Please forgive me."

Before I could even see who the person was, something covered my mouth, and I could smell the foul scent of some kind of chemical. My face collided with fabric and my entire body was enveloped. I cried out in surprise and struggled to break free, but soon everything was shrouded in a pitch-black darkness as I heard the sound of a zipper closing up whatever material was encasing me. After squirming around inside this prison so that I was lying on my back, I saw that I had been shoved into some kind of duffel bag. My immediate instinct was to cry for help, but I forced myself to keep calm, and began questioning the culprit instead, managing to slip out of the chemical-covered material over my mouth. "What is the meaning of this?! Why are you kidnapping people?!" I recieved no response. "_Ack!_" I felt myself being dragged down my front steps, my shoulders colliding heavily with the stone masonry with every fall. I was then lifted into the air and felt myself collide with the perpetrator's back as he carried the bag over his shoulder. "_Answer me!_" He still did not reply. In fact, he said nothing, leaving me to assume that he was working alone. He carried me a short distance, which I guessed to be the distance of my front lawn, before stopping in his tracks. Everything was silent.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked, feeling myself grow faint and drowsy from whatever substance he had tried to incapacitate me with, "I demand an answer, post-haste!" My heart was beating rapidly. Every inch of me was stricken with fear. I was panicking, but refused to let myself crack. I had to stay somewhat calm. I had to keep my grip on things, as all detectives must. However, what happened next alarmed me more than anything. I felt myself be lifted up, and then I suddenly collided with something hard, as if I had been thrown into a wall, but then the feeling of that wall soon melted away, as well as all physical contact with anything, and I experienced a bizarre falling sensation. It didn't feel so much like I was actually falling out of the air, but I felt as if I was floating, though my stomach dropped as if I had been free-falling. I cried out in fear, losing my grip on my sanity and plunging into full-blown panic. I didn't know what was happening. All I knew was that everything was dark, I couldn't see a thing, and there was no one there to help me. My screams went unheard as I felt myself plummet through space, and then everything went numb, and I passed out.

_"Ace Detective Naoto is on the case!" the voice kept repeating in my head. "It's time to conduct a full-scale investigation!"  
I ran around my old house sporting an oversized deerstalker hat and a classic magnifying glass, inspecting everything in sight, as I often did. I always acted like I was on some kind of over-dramatic kids' show on TV, examining petty mysteries usually left by my grandfather or the multiple secretaries we had had over the years. "Today I'm going to solve the mystery of who took the last cookie!" My long, blue hair trailed softly behind me as I raced all over the house, inspecting every nook and cranny and dusting the "scene of the crime" for fingerprints as my grandfather had taught me to do. I was only seven years old, but I had already picked up some tactics from my grandfather and the other men in his department. One day, I was going to be like them. While the other kids in my elementary school would be playing with each other and their numerous toys, I would be sitting off to myself, reading detective novels far beyond the reading level for my age. I wasn't good at making friends, so I didn't bother with the others. I had my books and my aspirations, and didn't need other people in my life. My imagination was wild. One day I'd be solving "The Case of the Century: Grand Theft at the Shirogane Estate" and the next it would be "The Case of the Missing Slipper," and other things along those lines._

_"Now, let's see," I said, dramatically scratching my chin, "I've gone through all the clues. There are four main suspects who could have possibly taken it. The first one is... Grampa!" I looked through the magnifying glass straight up at him as he fixed his tie, standing at the counter in the kitchen while brewing a fresh pot of coffee._

_"What's the matter, Officer Naoto?" my grandfather said, beaming down at me._

_"I'm going to have to take you in for questioning!" I said, aggressively pointing my finger at him._

_"Oh no!" Grampa said, "Did I do something wrong, Detective?"_

_"Earlier today around two o'clock PM," I said, "There was a plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies laid out on the table! All of them were eaten but one remained, and someone stole the last one!"_

_"Oh dear," Grampa said, playing along as he continued to adjust his tie, "That sounds terrible!"_

_"I know," I said, "So, did YOU take it?"_

_"Oh, no, Detective," my grandfather said innocently, "I would never do such a thing, you have to believe me."_

_"Hmm," I said, eyeing him suspiciously, "Alright, I believe you. You're off the hook... For now, buddy."_

_"Thank you, Officer Naoto," he chuckled._

_"Then," I said, "The next suspect is you!" I turned to our secretary at the time, a young woman named Aki Nomura, who was probably in her late twenties or early thirties. She had been rather nice to me, as my grandfather had informed her that my parents had died in an accident during an investigation. She had been a bit of a mother figure to me at times, though I mostly kept to myself when I got upset. I didn't remember very vividly what it was like to have a mother..._

_"Me?" Nomura-chan said, also playing along._

_"Yes," I said, "Did you steal the last cookie?"_

_"I couldn't have," Nomura said, sitting down at her desk, "Don't you remember? I was out at the time, taking care of things at my house. I just got here a little while ago."_

_"Huh," I said, squinting and sounding unconvinced. "I'll believe you just this once, then. But in that case, who could it be? Was it... YOU?!" I looked through the magnifying glass, peering down at the old, lazy bloodhound my grandfather had, a long retired police dog. It was silent, and then let out an ugly snoring sound. Its face was old and saggy, with empty eyes covered with wrinkles, and dark brown fur dusted in grey. I lifted up its top jaw and peered into its mouth before dropping it back down. "Nope, you're clean."_

_I stood up and looked around the room, and then paused to scratch at my chin again. "Well, it seems I have no leads as to who the culprit really is. But fortunately..." I took a pad of paper out of my pocket, which was scribbled on in black ink. "The test results for the fingerprints I found came in!" I squinted at the scribbles, and then gasped. "And it seems like my detective's intuition was right! The real culprit turns out to have been my last suspect all along: Detective Naoto Shirogane!" With that, I whisked a cookie out of my other pocket, holding it triumphantly into the air. "What an amazing plot twist!" I victoriously took a bite, and then grinned brightly. "And it's a quite tasty one, as well! Case closed, ladies and gentlemen!"_

_At that moment, there was a knock at the front door. I cheerfully frolicked over and opened it, looking up at the big man that stood in our doorway. This was my grandfather's partner. "...Hello," I said shyly._

_"Good evening, Naoto-chan," the man said, looking down at me. "Is your grandfather here?"_

_"I'm right here," my grandfather said, approaching from the kitchen with a mug of coffee. "Is there a problem at the station?"_

_"Nothing big," the man said, "Just a stick-up at the local convenience store. The rest of the department's busy at the moment so we're needed to go arrest the guy. They have him locked in."_

_"Of course," said my grandfather, turning to Nomura, "Aki, will you be able to watch over Naoto for the time being? I won't be gone long."_

_A stick-up? This struck me with excitement, and I smiled hopefully. "Grampa, can I come?"_

_Grampa looked down at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, Naoto... But you should-"_

_Grampa's partner chuckled. "You? Come with two experienced detectives to arrest an attempted burglar? You're just a little girl."_

_My smile fell. "B-but, I've been working really hard on my cases, and I want to be able to handle a real case..."_

_"Cases?" he sneered, "Look, your little games are nothing compared to the real deal. We even try not to let adult women partake in our cases, let alone children. Wait a few more years, and then_

_maybe you can find your way into being a real, genuine detective."_

_Tears began to well up in my eyes. Never before had I felt so crushed. Yes, the other children at school would always say things like "You want to be a detective? But you're a girl!" and "Solving crimes is a boy's job," but never before had I heard it so bluntly from an adult. I was heartbroken._

_My grandfather sighed as the two of them turned to leave. "I'm very sorry, Naoto-chan..." The door closed behind them. Distraught, I ran straight across the living room and down the hallway into my grandfather's study. It was dark, and the walls were lined with bookshelves. I had read a countless number of these books, mostly detective novels. I took out all of my favorites and climbed into the big armchair my grandfather would read in, and flipped through the pages of each one of them. Tears filled my eyes as I desperately skimmed through each one, reading off the names of all my favorite detectives... Sherlock Holmes, Kogoro Akechi, Phillip Marlowe... Every cool, hard-boiled detective in all my favorite crime novels, Japanese, American or English, were all men. Of course, I had always noticed that before... But I didn't want to admit it._

_"No," I whimpered to myself, "I want to be a detective... Like in the stories..." I quivered, gripping my favorite copy of "The D Slope Murder Case" close to my heart. "I want to be like them... I want to be like my Grampa and my mom and dad... And everyone before me..." A tear began to trickle down the side of my cheek, but then, I became angry. I wiped away the tear, the foolish little thing... It was only a symbol of my immaturity. It only reinforced the fact that I was a child. I didn't want to be a child. I wanted to be an adult. Adults didn't cry, and crying would solve nothing. I wasn't going to give up trying to be a detective; it was my dream, and I would one day live it no matter what, even if I had to completely change my image. I didn't want to be a little girl anymore. I hated being a little girl. Suddenly, a glistening pair of scissors resting on my grandfather's desk caught my eye. I eyed the scissors thoughtfully, but before I could even think against it, they were already in my hand, and I stood in front of the full-sized mirror standing against the wall in my grandfather's study._

_I gazed into the mirror, looking at the disgraceful thing I was: a young girl. This would no longer be. I had to change myself. I had to become a different person, a better person. Without hesitation, my fingers began to move rapidly, and I snipped at the long, navy blue locks, carving a new image for myself. It was a very hasty and messy job, but it was enough. After a few minutes, the person I saw as I stared into the mirror no longer looked like a young girl, but a little boy. I was breathing heavily, partially with the shock of seeing myself with a new face, and partially out of excitement. This was the new me. Before me stood a little boy with short, dark blue hair, with intelligence greatly advanced for his age and the ambitions of a hard-boiled detective. This was me, and this was to always be me._

_I heard the front door slide open. My grandfather was home. I froze, my oversized deerstalker hat held firmly in my left hand, the scissors in my right, and locks of blue hair littering the floor. I was worried about how he would react. "Sorry about that, Nomura," I heard him say, "Where did Naoto run off to?"_

_"I think she's reading in your study," Nomura replied, standing up from her desk._

_"I feel bad for leaving so suddenly," Grampa said, "So I'll make it up to the both of you. How about we all go out for dinner?" I whimpered, terrified._

_"Sounds like a plan to me," Nomura chuckled, "I'll come with you; my jacket's hanging up in your study."_

_My grandfather's footsteps neared the door to his study. My heartbeat quickened, and I could only brace myself for what he would say. I swallowed hard, and faced him as he walked in._

_"Naoto-chan, do you want to go out for- NAOTO!"_

"Naoto," my own name echoed in my ears as I noticed my face was pressed against a cold, flat surface. I opened my eyes slightly, but everything looked as if it were spinning. I placed a hand on my head, which hurt with a searing pain. "_Naoto,_" the same, oddly familiar voice repeated. My eyes shot open, and I sat up immediately, though I regretted it soon after, as a wave of vertigo washed over me.

"Where am I?" I said weakly, looking around and taking in my surroundings. I nearly gasped when I saw where I was. I hadn't expected in the very least that I would end up in a place like this. All around me were metal walls, decked with numerous lights, buttons, wires and computer screens. There were several red banners decorated with a golden falcon design, and the room was filled with a thick, disgustingly yellow fog. This looked like some place out of a superhero movie, or some science fiction police film. It deeply resembled what looked like a military base, and in the center was a metal table of some sort, surrounded by some kinds of surgical equipment, which looked entirely gruesome and were splattered with blood.

"You mean you don't know?" the familiar voice said again. I turned around in surprise, expecting the culprit to be behind me, but when I saw who it was, I gasped. Standing before me, in a bright turquoise shirt and yellow necktie, draped in an oversized lab coat and wearing the same dark blue newsboy cap atop short, navy blue locks of hair, was another me. It chuckled darkly, each deep laugh resonating in a sinister manner from its throat. The voice was the same as my own, though it was warped, and it sent chills down my spine. "Greetings. My name is Naoto Shirogane."


	5. The Doppelganger

**IMPORTANT: I still need a name for the Protagonist. Please leave a suggestion in a review, it would help a lot.**

**-Purple**

* * *

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked as I stood up, trying to remain as calm as I possibly could with an identical doppelganger of myself standing in front of me. I felt my heartbeat quicken and I readied myself for any possible scenario that could come into play. All I could think of was the group of students I had been observing. Hopefully they had discovered I was missing. I hoped to God that they would find me here, though after the last three murder attempts had failed, I had faith that they would do whatever they did to the others in order to save them. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Weren't you listening?" the doppelganger said in her ominous voice, "My name is Naoto Shirogane."

"Cut the crap," I snapped, "Who are you and why are you dressed like me? Do you think this is some sort of game?"

"I don't know," said the doppelganger, "You tell me. Obviously you know that for yourself. _Is_ this one of your little games? I'd love to partake in it, if so... I do love games."

"Shut up," I said loudly, my voice echoing throughout the room, "Tell me what's going on. What is this place, and why was I taken here?"

"Oh, you should know this place," the doppelganger said, beginning to walk around me, "You've visited it so many times. Don't you remember?"

"I've never visited this place in my life."

"Is that so?" the doppelganger laughed. "You should know this place better than anyone. After all, this is _your_ Secret Base."

"Secret... Base?" I said, confused.

"Of course," the doppelganger said, a devilish grin forming under the eerie golden eyes it bore, "You created this place, did you not?"

"Stop speaking in these childish riddles," I demanded, growing annoyed.

"But it's that simple," she said, "I promise you, it's that simple. This place is a manifestation of your own thoughts and feelings, after all."

"What are you saying...?" I asked.

"You come here very often, as I said. This is where you hide, deep within yourself, from other people. Don't you know that, Naoto? You've always hidden in a place like this. It's an industrial paradise for you, where you can just sit here and solve your own little cases, without anyone to bother you."

"What...?" I said, wrinkling my nose, "That's not how I think. You've got it all wrong." I sighed. "I don't know why I'm here or what that culprit is planning to do with me, but I don't have time for a child like you. I need to go investigate." I turned to leave.

"Wait!" the doppelganger suddenly cried out. I stopped, surprised. The cry had been unlike any that I would ever dare to let escape from my mouth. It was a whine, like that of an ignorant child. It disgusted me, hearing it come from my own voice. "I don't want you to leave," she said, "Please don't leave?"

"Why the sudden change in attitude?" I said, turning around to face her, "And for God's sake, stop acting so damn childish. It's sickening, really.

"You think I'm sickening...?" the doppelganger said, sounding heartbroken, as if she were about to cry. "I just don't want to be left alone... Please, don't leave me alone. I waited forever for you to wake up, and I don't want to stand another second alone!"

"Ugh," I scoffed, "You are so annoying."

"The loneliness hurts," she continued, holding her head in her hands, which were covered by the enormous sleeves of her lab coat. "It burns and it eats away at me from the inside... I don't know how much longer I can stand being so alone!"

"This is growing tiresome," I said, shrugging her off, "And it's insulting, frankly, seeing someone with my own face acting the polar opposite of me. I'm going to try to find a way out of here."

"Oh, you know you can't," the doppelganger cried, "You won't find a way out of here... But then you won't come back either! No one ever comes back... No one ever stays by me!"

That phrase stung in my heart. She continued. "That dream you had while you were passed out. It was a flashback, was it not?"

I was surprised out of my wit. How would she have known what I had dreamt about? "Yes, it was."

"What ever happened to that old house, or Ms. Nomura, or your grandfather's dog, for that matter?"

It pained me slightly to think about it. "The bloodhound died, my grandfather got transferred to another station, so we moved, and Ms. Nomura got a higher-paying job in Tokyo. She moved on. Everything moved on. Everything always moves on, even more so in the life of a detective."

"You would know that so well..." the doppelganger's voice hissed painfully. "_Please,_ don't move on yourself... You know how painful it is to be cast aside, so why would you do the same to me?!"

Umcomfortably, I began to edge away despite her desperate and childish cries, when suddenly, the big, round, industrial metal door leading into the room hissed and clanged as it opened up, and a group of people ran in. I heard a familiar voice cry my name. "Naoto!" When I looked to see who was entering the room, my heart softened in relief and I grinned. The group of students I had been observing had indeed come. There before me were Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, and Rise Kujikawa, along with the others who I had met during the school trip, Yosuke, Chie, and the small, blonde boy named Teddie... Who, for whatever reason, was wearing the mascot suit he had always carried around, and who was leading them but the peculiar silver-haired transfer student whose name always slipped my mind. I'd had faith that they would show up.

"Ah, it's about time you arrived," I said calmly, "Dealing with this child has been quite a pain." I casually walked toward them. If that was it, then I was ready to go.

"No!" the doppelganger burst into tears as I walked away, "No, no! Don't go!"

I turned and faced her. "It's useless speaking with you. I need to go back now..."

"Why?" she wailed, "Why are you leaving me here!? Why am I always left alone!?" She sobbed, tears streaming from her eyes. "It's so lonely... I don't wanna be alone!"

My heart was sore with a gnawing pain as I looked back at this other me. I almost felt sorry for her, yet every inch of her and every word she said was revolting to me, as well as insulting. "Naoto-kun..." a soft voice came from behind me. It was Yukiko Amagi. Her face seemed sympathetic, as if she thought these were my real thoughts. She was wrong. This was not me. It was a fraud, and I had to make them aware of that.

"You wear the same face as me..." I said to my doppelganger, "It's as if you're implying we're one and the same." I gritted my teeth in frustration. "But the difference between me and you is..."

The doppelganger suddenly dropped her arms and looked at me with a malicious expression. "Why delude yourself? I _am_ you." My eyes widened a bit, and my palms began to sweat, but I had to remain calm. "These childish gestures are no mere affectation... They're the truth. The fools all say it, don't they...? 'You're only a child,' 'Keep out of our business, kid,' and so forth. No matter how many cases you spend hours cogitating over, no matter how many crimes you solve, you're a child in their eyes. It's your brain they're interested in, the grey matter locked up in that skull. As long as they need it, you're an ace detective, but once they're done, it's back to the playpen with you. You haven't the means to deal with society's two-faced nature... You're just a lonely child."

How _dare_ she say that about me!? What did she know about me!? I curled my fingers into fists unknowingly, and my heart raced inside me. "Naoto..." Another voice, the voice of Yosuke, spoke from behind me. What, did he feel sorry for me as well? I wasn't asking for their pity! This wasn't me! How dare they make such assumptions!

"I wanna be a grown-up," my doppelganger wailed again, rubbing her eyes like some kind of toddler, "I wanna be a big boy right now... Then they'll see who I am... I... I want a reason for me to stay..."

"That's enough," I snapped, growing angry, "I can find my own reason for living..."

"Hah," the other me said, growing serious yet again, "I'm telling you, that's impossible. You are but a child. How can you change that essential truth?"

Everything was happening so quickly. I was infuriated. I needed to stop this person, whoever they were, before they revealed what would ruin my life as a detective, forever. I couldn't let that one fact slip from their mouth. I was desperate to stop that from happening. "S-stop it...!"

She continued regardless of my plea. "At your core, you admire the sort of 'strong' and 'cool' men who populate detective fiction. But in trying to emulate them, you must know that you're nothing of the sort-you're a child. There's no avoiding first principles... Admit that you're a child, and admit that there's nothing you can do about it. Now then! Our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure. You have no objections, do you... 'Naoto' Shirogane?"

I was outraged. Why wouldn't she stop spewing all this hot air!? "Stop it!"

"'Naoto'... Such a cool, manly name!" said the doppelganger. "But a name doesn't change the truth. It doesn't let you cross the barrier between the sexes. How could you become an ideal man when you were never male to begin with...?"

I stood there, my eyes wide, in shock. I didn't know what to do. It was out. It had come out.

_Shit._

Everyone in the room suddenly bore a look of shock almost similar to mine. Yosuke's voice stuttered out in surprise. "Wait, what...? Did he... Did I hear that right!?"

Kanji seemed especially stunned. "H-he's not a guy!?"

My breathing was rapid, and I felt somewhat faint. "I won't throw a tantrum... That accomplishes nothing...!"

The doppelganger chuckled. "Hahahaha! How often I've heard those words from the adults. 'Throwing a tantrum won't solve anything, Naoto-kun,' and other such bilge! They made you cry, didn't they? Yet here you are, mimicking those same men. What exactly are you trying to justify?"

I was speechless. "What...?"

"It's all right. You needn't suffer anymore. That's why you're undergoing this body alteration procedure to begin with. You throw a tantrum, but it fails to change the situation a single bit... I can quite understand the feeling. After all... I am you."

"That's not true!" I cried at the top of my lungs. I couldn't take this anymore.

"Don't say it!" Chie cried from behind me.

"It's okay," said Kanji, "Let the kid spill the whole thing. If not, Naoto's just gonna keep hurting... We'll just do our job and kick the Shadow's ass, yeah?"

Shadow? What in the world were they talking about? Were they still on that "Defeating shadows with our Personas" talk again? ...But then again, now that I had come here, it wasn't sounding so farfetched.

My doppelganger chuckled darkly again. "Ahahahaha! As if you know anything about me! You'll kick my ass, huh? Fine, go ahead and try, you lizard-brained imbecile!"

I stood back in terror, and before me, something began to happen to the doppelganger. Black smoke began to rise from it, and soon, the entire shape of it was gone, enveloped in shadow. Was everything they had said back at Port Island... True...? I was terrified, and had no idea what would possibly happen, but the others seemed calm, even fired up.

"Save the discussion for later!" Yosuke piped up. The group of students readied themselves, as if a battle was about to take place. I could only watch, not knowing what to do for once in my life.

"Here it comes!" Rise said. Here what comes!? What was about to happen!?

I was then answered, as the shadows enveloping my doppelganger surged outward in an array of overwhelming darkness, and I was knocked to the ground. I blacked out, but I wasn't fully unconscious. I was on my hands and knees and everything before me was going blurry. When I came to my senses and looked up, what I saw stunned me more than anything I had seen that day. My doppelganger now appeared to be a giant, robotic version of myself. Half of it was dressed in the same clothes I was wearing, but the other half was completely metallic and covered in all kinds of buttons and mechanisms. It wielded what looked like two large laser guns, which resembled the ideal toys of a small child. From its back, two airplane-like wings protruded, as well as jets, which propelled it into the air. Its empty, golden eyes bore an expression of wrath and hatred. I was scared stiff, not only by this giant metal beast, but by myself as well, and everything it had said. I couldn't remember a time I had been this scared, and I was completely petrified, unable to move, speak, or even think straight. The other students, on the other hand, seemed completely prepared. They each took fighting stances, as if they had done this many times before, which they probably had.

Without warning, I felt two metal clamps fasten around my shoulders, and I was suddenly carried into the air, and then placed on the cold, hard, metal surgical table in the center of the room. More metal clamps secured my arms and legs to the table, so that I could not escape. Now, I uderstood what this "Shadow" wanted from me. It wanted to do what I had claimed myself to desire most: It wanted to change me into a male.

I struggled with what feeble strength remained in my body, letting out a weak squeal for help. I must have looked so helpless... But this time, I had to admit that I actually was helpless. I couldn't do this on my own. If the others didn't do something, I was going to die here. This doppelganger clearly wasn't in their right mind, and I didn't trust them at all with any type of "surgery," even if I _had_ approved of it.

"I am a shadow..." the monster said, "The true self..." It turned to the others, who were ready to fight. "What? Are you sick of yourselves too? Very well... Then let's begin the special operation!" I raised its mechanical limbs, preparing its toy-like weapons.

"Bring it on, man..." Kanji said, "I'll pull you through this!"

Teddie stepped back a bit. "O-operation!? I hate ouchies!"

Normally, I would have thought of that as a pitiful thing to say, but at the moment, I was desperate. One by one, the "surgical tools" around me began to turn on, slowly moving out of their positions and toward me.

"Have you made up your mind?" the doppelganger said, "Then let us commence!"


	6. The Body-Altering Procedure

**IMPORTANT: I still need a name for the Protagonist. Please leave a suggestion in a review, it would help a lot.**

**-Purple**

* * *

The silver-haired student stepped forward. He held out his hand, and a blue light began to radiate around him. The sight of this light soothed me as much as I could have been soothed at the moment, though panic still tore at my heart. Still, the beautiful light perplexed me, and gave off a welcoming aura that drew me to its presence. Above him, what looked like a blue tarot card appeared out of the light, and descended toward his hand. When it rested in the center of his hand, he clenched his fingers together, crushing the card. As he did this, a brilliant, white light burst forth from him, and before him stood a creature much like the new appearance of my doppelganger. However, instead of having a dark and frightening feel to it, it was most fascinating and majestic in my eyes. It looked somewhat like a soldier, clad entirely in metal armor, bearing a long, mighty blade and peering proudly out of two magnificent golden eyes. It leapt from where it stood, and attacked the robotic monster head-on. The earsplitting sound of metal scraping against metal made me cringe as its sword collided with the exterior of the machine. However, the metal was too strong for such a blow, and the doppelganger threw the beast to the side, soaring into the air. The being the student had summoned disappeared with a flash of light.

Yosuke did the same thing, crushing a tarot card with a slightly different design, and before him appeared a similar being, however this one wore white and camoflague garments, as well as some golden decor and a long, red scarf. Its long, thin limbs spread outward, and a violent blast of wind slammed into the flying doppelganger, but didn't seem to do much more damage than only knocking her a few meters into the air. She grunted in frustration and dove out of the air, spiraling into a barrel roll and attacking the students. My heart skipped a beat as I panicked for their sake, but after the attack, they all seemed to be alright. Most of them had dove out of the way, but Yosuke and Chie had been hit by the doppelganger's wings, though they didn't seem to be hurt very bad. They pulled themselves back up immediately, and prepared to fight again.

"No, no, that will never do," the monster taunted, "Patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes into them." She pointed one of her guns at Teddie, and suddenly an enormous bolt of electricity hammered down on him. He squealed in pain.

_"NO!"_ I screamed, fearing the worst for Teddie. That enormous amount of electricity was surely enough to at least paralyze a full-grown man, let alone a teenage boy. I feared the worst for him, but amazingly, he was only knocked down, and was rocking on his back, flailing his stubby limbs and trying to stand. I couldn't believe my eyes. Had his bear suit redirected the electric current or something? No... It wouldn't be possible...

"Are you alright, Teddie?" the silver haired student said as he helped Teddie up. He hastily pulled a small, green gemstone out of one of his pockets. "Here, I found a Life Stone a little while back. It should help." He held out his hand, and the Life Stone immediately rose up into the air. It disssolved into a calming green light, which encircled Teddie and healed him before my eyes.

Teddie got to his feet, looking much better. He smiled up at the silver-haired student. "Thank you bear-y much!" he said cheerfully.

_Amazing,_ I thought to myself, _did that stone just heal his wounds?_

Teddie now wore a face full of zeal and passion. He also became enveloped in light, crushed yet another tarot card in his palm and summoned a gigantic, round, red creature which wore a cape and carried... A missle!? It spun around, readying itself, and then conjured a block of ice around one of the wings of the doppelganger, proceeding to smash the ice to bits. She yelped in pain, but then soared upward above the others.

"She's going to attack!" Rise's voice came from the other side of the room. Behind her stood yet another one of these beings, wearing a long, elegant dress, with what seemed like a satellite for a head. It held a peculiar visor in front of Rise's eyes, and its satellite head followed my dopleganger as she flew around the room. It seemed Rise was analyzing her, and pointing out her movements and status. "Everyone brace yourselves!"

Just as she had said, the rest of the students stood their ground and got ready to guard against the attack. The doppelganger dove out of the air yet again, battering each of the students. They all shrieked in pain as they withstood the attack, but they each sustained noticable cuts, and Yukiko and Kanji were knocked to the ground.

"Yukiko, are you okay?" Chie said, sounding concerned, as she helped Yukiko up off the floor.

"I'm fine," Yukiko grunted, "I'll just fix this up." She opened the fan she wielded, a blue light beginning to radiate from her, and as her own tarot card decended in front of her, she smashed it with the fan. Before her appeared a beautiful, feminine-looking being, draped in what almost looked like a long fan of cherry blossoms. It spread its arms, and a healing light shone from each student. All their wounds were immediately healed.

"Thanks a bunch, Yukiko," Chie beamed as she too began to glow with a blue light. "Hwa-taaa!" She spun around and roundhouse-kicked the card that fell in front of her, smashing it to bits, and another creature appeared in front of her. It resembled a female samaurai, bearing a double-bladed spear. Leaping from where it stood, it attacked the doppelganger, slashing furiously at her.

She took a massive hit and plummeted through the air, but steadied herself before she could hit the ground. She made motions as if she was breathing heavily... As if she was weakening. "Ugh..." Her voice sounded tired, yet frustrated. "Why must you struggle so much?" She raised her arms, pointing her guns into the air, and bolts of lightning rained down from the ceiling onto each of the students.

I squirmed in my captivity, positive that this would have been too much for them, but yet again, to my amazement, they were all still alive. They were all hurt and shaken up, but they hadn't even sustained any major injuries. The silver-haired student reached into his pocket, taking out a vial of some sort of medicine. When he opened it, another healing light encircled each of the students, and their wounds disappeared again. I felt relieved for them all, but panic increased within me as the drills and saws around me began to adjust themselves ever so slowly above the lower part of my stomach. If I didn't get out of here in time, I wouldn't just be drilled into; I would be gutted. I was doomed and helpless, and the others were my only hope. I prayed to God over and over inside my head that they would help me escape from this hell before it was too late.

"Eat this!" Kanji bellowed as he crushed his own tarot card. The being that appeared in front of him was huge, bearing massive black muscles and painted with a white skeletal design. It was one frightening monster, but promised a large amount of damage. The giant, metal lightning bolt it held struck into the ground as it sent down its own bolt of electricity toward the doppelganger. It struck the robot's body, sending her flying into a wall and crashing into one of the huge monitors placed throughout the room. Electricity continued to surge throughout her body as she tried to recover, angered, though seriously damaged.

"Why won't you lie down and die!?" she shouted, lifting off into the air again, "You children can't do anything at all!" She lifted her guns, and lightning rained down on the students once again, but missed all but Kanji, who took the blow very lightly. She roared in outrage, gaining speed and diving throughout the room.

They seemed to be winning. Smoke billowed from holes blown in the metal exterior of the doppelganger, but the surgical tools neared me even more. I believed in them. I was scared, but I knew that they could get me out of this. They had done it before, and now I believed them. I believed everything Rise and Yukiko had told me, even if it had just seemed like drunk nonsense at the time. I had to see it to believe it, but now I finally knew what they had been doing all this time. They _had_ been going into this "TV world" as they had said, and they _had_ been battling "Shadows," whatever they were... And these magnificent and heroic beings they summoned before me must have been their Personas.

"Yatagarasu!" the silver-haired boy cried as he crushed another tarot card, and this time, a large, black raven appeared in front of him. I was confused. He could summon more than one Persona? The raven flapped its wings and a ball of fire combusted around the doppelganger. She groaned angrily and dove at the students, but they dodged her attack. Yosuke used his Persona to physically attack her, but she dove out of the way as well. Each student continued to attack with their own Persona, and my doppelganger also continued to attack. Each attack erupted around me, exploding, smashing and crashing, as the huge robotic monster cried out in frustration and pain, and the drills and saws neared ever closer to me. I sucked in my gut as they came inches from my skin, and I was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. They were going to be too late. They were wearing her down, but they were going to be too late. I was seconds from the equipment drilling into me. My face was white, the blood pigment completely gone from it. I was doomed. I was going to die.

It was over. I tried desperately to call for help, but no screams would come from my mouth. Then, everything went black.

"Naoto," a familiar, yet unidentifiable voice cooed softly in my ears. It was dark, and I was scared. Before me, two blurred figures came into sight. One seemed to have long, dark brown hair, and the other had short blue hair, the same color as my own. Their faces became slightly more focused, though their appearances still remained very vague.

"M-mom..." I whispered weakly, "Dad..."

"Don't speak," my mother's voice echoed, "Save your energy. You are going to need it."

"I know what you want to ask us," my father said, "And we never left you, Naoto. We are still here in your heart, watching over you, like we have been since the day we moved on from your world."

"A person never truly leaves from the world," my mother said, "Because they'll always remain in the hearts of those who loved them."

"We're sorry we couldn't be there," my father said, "To watch you grow up, to watch you become a detective like us... But we watch you every day from here in your heart." Both of them smiled. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even remember very clearly what my parents looked like, since I had lost them at such a young age... But I remembered their voices. Their voices would always calm me down as a child... They were so gentle...

"But don't think you have to be the perfect detective just to please us, either," my mother's voice said gently. My heart skipped a beat. "We will always love you, detective or not."

"And we will always love you for _you,_" my father added. I could see his grin widen through the blurry image.

"Don't ever think you're not good enough," my mother said softly, "Because you are everything to us. You are so, _so_ much more than you know."

I didn't know how to take this. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry so bad, but I didn't have the energy for it, plus I was still self-conscious about showing any emotion. The image of my parents before be began to fade, as if being swept away by the wind. Their smiles lingered in my heart, and their voices echoed in the darkness.

_"Just open your eyes."_

I was pulled back into consciousness by an enormous crash. When my eyes opened, after my vision came into focus, I saw that the crash was caused by my doppelganger falling out of the air and collapsing to the ground. It exploded as it crashed into the floor, black and red smoke billowing in all directions. It let out an enraged cry as it terminated, disappearing into the shadows that consumed it. The electrical equipment throughout the room had been destroyed, and sparks rained from the various smashed buttons and torn wires. The drills were still coming at me, not an inch from my skin, and I was barely conscious.

_"Now!"_ Kanji yelled to his Persona, and with one swing of the metal bolt it carried, the surgical tools were smashed aside. I felt thick, strong hands release my arms and legs from the clamps that secured them, and Kanji's face came into focus as he lifted me from the table and then placed me on the floor beside it. Everyone was breathing heavily. I could barely move. My senses were knocked out of me, and everything was numb. I lay there as everyone looked down at me, feeling as if the room was spinning, and trying to calm my breathing.

"So..." Chie said as she looked down at me, concerned, "Naoto-kun was a girl."

Ugh. This is what she chose to say? I began to regain a bit of strength, and tried to use my voice. "Ngh..." I grunted, trying my hardest to wake up.

"Are you awake!?" Yukiko asked, sounding surprised.

I mustered all the strength I could, and slowly pulled myself to my feet. I felt very light headed when I did so, but soon gained control. I was confused, not entirely conscious yet, and my vision was heavily blurred. I was seeing double. "Where am I...?" I tried my hardest to remember. "I remember you all arriving, and..." I lifted my head. The memories started to pour into me all at once. My heart sank with embarrassment and shame. "That's right... You saw everything..." Everyone was crowded around me, but they all bore faces of concern and worry for me, rather than redicule, as I had expected. Also, surprisingly, someone else stood before me. My doppelganger-my "Shadow," was still there, but she had transformed back into her old self, and she looked like me once again. She looked up at me, silently, as if expecting something. I winced, my heart heavy, knowing what I must do. Slowly, I approached her, until I stood directly in front of her, looking straight into her golden eyes, and she looked into mine. It was going to be very hard and very strange to face myself, even more so seeing as I was doing it literally. I swallowed hard, and then let the words tumble out without hesitating.

"I lost both my parents in an accident," I told the others, "I was still young, so my grandfather took me in. I was inept at making friends... So I spent my time reading detective novels in my grandfather's study."

My Shadow nodded, bearing an ambitious grin on her face. "When I grow up... I'm gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective...!"

"My parents were proud of their job," I continued, "I had no qualms about following in their footsteps... An inherited occupation can feel stifling to many, but I welcomed it. I yearned for the day I could be a detective myself... Perhaps I inherited that desire from them as well. I was always alone... Seeing that, my grandfather must have believed it was his duty to help me realize my dream. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients... And before I knew it, people started calling me Junior Detective." I smiled weakly, filled with nostalgia. "At first I was delighted. But not everything went so smoothly..."

Yukiko spoke up. "What was that you said about 'you're only a child...'?"

"Not everyone welcomes my collaboration when it comes to solving cases..." I answered painfully, "My status as 'a child' was sufficient enough to offend many of those whom I worked with. Were that the only issue, then it would have resolved itself with time... But though I will one day change from a child to an adult, I will never change from a woman to a man..."

"Do you not like being a girl...?" Yukiko asked, "Is that why you always dress like a boy?"

After some hesitation, I nodded, and then looked down. "My sex doesn't fit my ideal image of a detective... Besides, the police department is a male-oriented society. If they had the slightest 'concrete' reason to look down on me, no one would need me anymore..."

"You don't know that," Kanji said softly.

"Hey..." Yukiko said, "You must know already that what you yearn for isn't to become an adult or become a boy..."

I looked down, contemplating her words, and sighed. I had to admit it to her, and to myself. "You're absolutely right." I turned back to my Shadow, the supressed side of me that I had kept locked away from everyone, including myself. "I'm sorry... I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn't exist. But you are me... And I am you. You've always been inside me. What I should yearn for... No, what I must strive for, isn't to become a man. It's to accept myself for who I really am..."

My Shadow smiled at me, nodding, and understanding. She was thankful that I had finally accepted her after all these years, and I felt a hint of respect for her begin to grow inside me. This was me, and though I had refused to admit it, it had always been me. I felt a remarkable power surge throughout my body. It was a warm and welcoming feeling, and I couldn't help but smile as I felt something begin to change. Before me, a blue light enveloped my Shadow, just like the light that had appeared whenever the others summoned their Personas. She smiled thankfully at me, and suddenly began to transform. Soon, she no longer stood before me. In her place, there was a beautiful little creature, just like the Personas the others had wielded. It was rather small compared to the others, but I felt great power coming from it. It was dressed in a dark blue coat, golden buttons lining the front of it. Its body seemed metallic, as well as its face, which was also a dark blue. It had two big, golden eyes, and above its eyes were two tufty antennae like those of a moth. The wings that sprouted from its back were also mothlike, and they were white, tipped with various shades of blue. It wore a yellow tie similar to mine, and carried a saber consisting of a white rectangular handle with a ray of ethereal light shining out as the blade. It floated freely in the air in front of my face, looking down at me proudly.

_I am thou,_ I heard inside my head, _Thou art I._ It was my own voice, though it was deeper, like the voice I had always used to put myself out as a male. It was a very relaxing and friendly voice, yet also powerful and triumphant. _The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest... You have obtained the facade used to overcome life's hardships. I am your Persona, Sukuna-Hikona._

Sukuna-Hikona disappeared, and in its place was a tarot card much like the others. It displayed a design resembling a wheel of fortune, and as it descended before me and placed itself inside my heart, its light told me that all I had to do in order to summon my Persona was bring forth this card and crush it just as the others did. Crushing it would not destroy it; it would keep coming back as long as my Persona lived in me. I was illuminated in blue light as my Shadow found its way back inside me, and I had finally accepted who I was. Suddenly, an enormous wave of vertigo washed over me, and my body went numb as I collapsed to my knees.

The others quickly crowded around me. I smiled to myself, having found faith in them, as I had least expected to when I was first assigned to this case. It was completely ironic that I had become one of them after observing them suspiciously for these past months. I was very proud of them, and I admired their strength and their courage, as well as their devotion, especially to me, who I would have thought did not deserve it. "In any event," I said, breathing heavily, "You're a devious bunch... I can't believe you've kept something hidden like this for so long." It amazed me that even I couldn't figure out what they were up to. "Haha... No wonder the perpetrator has eluded the police... But it's apparent now..." I looked up, feeling pride within myself. "This case is far from over."

"That's right..." Yosuke said, smiling, "And you proved it, Naoto." I grinned. It made me more satisfied than anything to hear someone say that. "Anyways, we can talk more later. We need to get you out of here."


	7. A Much Needed Rest

**I tried to get this up a few hours earlier, but I just missed it. Oh, well. I may be a bit late, but I'm wishing a very happy birthday to our favorite Detective Prince!**

**Happy birthday, Naoto!**

**-Purple**

* * *

Everything was hazy, and I don't remember much at all. I remember being carried on Kanji Tatsumi's back, but other than that, all I remember was a blur. We had left the room where my Shadow had attacked, and made our way through the labyrinth of the secret laboratory, though the others seemed as if they knew very well how to get out. I felt myself becoming weaker. My body was going limp and there was definitely something wrong. I wondered if this was just fatigue, or if this environment had something to do with it. I barely noticed that my face was buried in Kanji's shoulder as he carried me, and the world seemed to be spinning around me. I don't even recall what kind of things they said, because everything was so fuzzy to me.

I remember a door opening and revealing the world outside the secret laboratory, but it wasn't what I had expected it to be. Outside, there seemed to be an endless sea of trees, and the sky above was pulsing with ominous shades of red and black. Fog filled the area, and it was so thick I could barely see. Just as I began to wonder how the others could see through it, I noticed that they had all been wearing glasses the entire time. I deduced that these glasses must have some kind of technology built into them that allowed them to see through the fog. The idea somewhat intrigued me. It reminded me of some kind of gadget I would have loved to build when I was a child.

The group somehow found their way through the fog and the trees, and we ended up in a strange place that resembled a TV studio, at least from the blurry image I could remember. There was a tall figure that somehow appeared to look like a stack of retro television sets... And after seeing that, everything went blank for me. The next thing I remember was that I was sitting on the floor of what I guessed was the electronics department at Junes, for some reason. It felt as if everything had been a dream... But no, it was all too real to be a dream. It was much too real...

"Hey... Hey!" Kanji's voice sounded through the deafening ringing in my ears. My vision had gone dark, and I had begun to let the gnawing feeling of unconsciousness take me, before he spoke up. My body was numb, and I was weaker than I had ever felt before. All energy that had previously been in me had been wiped, and I found myself to be breathing heavily with exhaustion.

"Sheesh..." Chie's voice came from beside me, "She really put her life on the line for this..."

I heard Yukiko's voice as well. "But without her efforts, we'd never have realized... That the culprit is still at large."

There was a short pause, and then Kanji spoke up again, sounding very concerned. "You're too freaking reckless, dammit..."

Reckless, huh? Well... I guess he could say that, but my actions hadn't been strickly out of recklessness. I lifted my head and looked up at them to tell them the reason I had taken such a risk. "I never doubted that you would come for me..." I said, "Although the reality turned out to be far what I'd imagined."

Kanji looked somewhat pale when I looked at him. He looked as if he had been very worried. "Tch... What a dumbass. You're no genius at all. We were tearing our hair out over you..."

Rise looked at him with a smile. "So you did worry about her, Kanji! Awww..."

Kanji looked flustered. "Shuddup! M-mind your own damn business!"

"I'll take her home," Yukiko said, "I don't think she can go back by herself."

I looked down. I didn't want them to have to go out of their way just to see that I got home. It would have been weak of me to request help for something I could do myself. "It's... All right... I can..." I felt weaker than I had expected. My energy was completely drained from me.

"No way, missy!" Rise spoke up, "Don't think that doing everything on your own is the 'adult' thing to do! C'mon, let's go. Grab on!" She held out her arm to me.

I pouted, gritting my teeth. This was humiliating to me. Nonetheless, I felt much too weak to make it home on my own. I worried about fainting even before I could leave Junes. Reluctantly, I lifted my head and nodded. Then, I grabbed hold of Rise's hands, and she pulled me to my feet.

"Your hands are shaking," Rise said softly, "And they're freezing, too... Come to think of it, you look really pale..." As I stood up, I was struck with a wave of dizziness. I wanted nothing more than to just get back to my house and lie down. I groaned as Rise and Yukiko lifted me up with my arms around their shoulders.

"Be careful with her," the silver-haired student said calmly.

"I'll be fine," I said weakly, and then looked curiously at him. He had a small smile on his face, and looked very pleased that I was alright. I couldn't help but grin a little, feeling the extremely warm aura that came off of him. Then, I remembered. "By the way, what was your name, again?"

He looked at me with his deep grey eyes, and his smile widened politely. "My name's Yu Narukami," he said.

"Yu Narukami," I repeated to myself to etch the name into my mind. It was a decent name. "Well, thank you for saving me. All of you. I knew that you would come..." I grinned weakly.

"Don't worry about it," said Yosuke, "Just go home and take as much time as you need to relax. That world can be a real strain on you."

I nodded, and then Rise and Yukiko turned me around and began to walk out. When we exited the building, I saw that the sky was dark, and it was late in the evening. I wondered how long I had been gone. If it had been just before midnight when I was kidnapped, did that mean I had been gone for the whole day? "How long have I been gone?" I asked.

"A few days," Yukiko answered apologetically.

"What!?" I was shocked. "It only felt like a day at the most!"

"You were probably unconscious for a long time," Yukiko said, "I know I was... I went through the same thing."

"So did I," Rise said sullenly, "That world does wonders on your mind..."

"I guessed that this had happened to you as well," I sighed, "Seeing as I have been observing you all for quite some time now... You both, as well as Kanji, all went missing for periods of a few days before suddenly turning up without an explanation. It's not surprising that this happened for me as well... But still..." I groaned. "What am I going to tell my grandfather...?"

"I told my parents that I didn't remember what happened," Yukiko said.

"I told my grandmother that, too," said Rise, "Because that was somewhat true, at least. But you were trying to prove that the case wasn't closed, right? So at least now people might believe you!"

I sighed. I honestly didn't know how my grandfather or Yakushiji would react. However, most of what I felt was guilt. They must have been worried beyond belief for me.

"Don't worry, Naoto-kun," Yukiko said reassuringly, "I'm sure your grandfather will be relieved to see you after having gone missing for so long."

"Yeah," I said.

"For now, you just need to take some time to rest," said Rise, "Take all the time you need, and when you're ready to come back to school, we'll discuss the case."

Discuss the case... I liked the sound of that. I may have been booted off the official case, but that didn't mean I couldn't still help with it. "That sounds great." I grinned optimistically, feeling myself begin to strengthen slightly.

After a few minutes, we stood at the beginning of the walkway which led to my house. I was thankful to the two girls for helping me, however reluctant I had been. I stood on my own and tipped the brim of my hat to them in thanks. "Thank you very much. You've been a lot of help."

"Do you want us to walk with you the rest of the way?" Rise asked cheerfully.

"We can help explain your disappearance to your grandfather, if you'd like," Yukiko said.

"That won't be necessary," I said, "But thank you. I think I need to handle this on my own. There are a few things I'd like to say to him, as well."

They both nodded. "We'll see you later, then," Rise said, "Make sure to rest up."

"Good luck," said Yukiko. The two of them turned and began to walk off.

I turned and walked up the path to the front steps of my house. Peering into the window, I felt a warm wave of relaxation come over me. Considering everything I had just gone through, I felt downright blessed to finally be back home. However, when I reached up to knock on the door, I hesitated for a long while. My heart skipped a beat and I stood there nervously with a lump in my throat. I didn't know what awaited me inside, whether I would be scolded, grounded, or worse... But I had to do this. Part of me wished for Yukiko and Rise to be there with me, but I kept telling myself that I needed to stay strong and do this by myself. Swallowing hard, I lightly knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the latch began to open. It all seemed to happen so slowly before my eyes, and I braced myself for what would happen. For a split second, Yakushiji's grey eyes appeared before me, and with a gasp, I was suddenly enveloped in a tangle of arms. _"Shirogane!"_ Yakushiji wailed, "Shirogane, get over here!"

Before I knew it, my grandfather was also standing before me, bearing a look of shock and disbelief. "Naoto!" he cried out, wrapping his arms around me as well. I was compressed between the two men, and though I was utterly surprised, I felt safer than I had in a long while. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there, frozen in surprise and comfort.

"I've been torturing myself these past few days," Yakushiji said shakily, "I could have opened that door and then you would have been safe... I could have been there to stop the guy..."

"I am safe," I said reassuringly, "I'm safe now." It seemed they knew automatically that I had been kidnapped.

"I was so worried," my grandfather said, "I even offered help to the Inaba P.D. to try and track you down..."

"I'm okay," I insisted, "I'm sorry..."

"No," my grandfather said, "Don't be sorry, it was our fault... I thought I lost you... What did he do to you? Are you hurt? Where did he take you? How did you escape?"

I remembered what Yukiko had said. "I don't remember anything. All I remember is that I was found by a group of teenagers, and they brought me back here..."

The two men released their grip on me. My grandfather looked at me, shocked. "You weren't... Raped, were you?"

My face went pale. "No," I assured him, "I wasn't raped, I know that much..."

"Well," said Yakushiji, "You are safe now, and that's what matters... And it seems your gut feeling about the case was right, after all..." He grinned apologetically. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Naoto..."

"Don't be," I said, and thought for a moment. I looked at my Grampa, feeling a slight twinge of pain in my chest. "Yakushiji-san... Would you mind if I spoke to my grandfather in private for a few minutes...?"

"Oh," Yakushiji said, "Anything, Naoto-sama. I was just about to leave for the night, anyway. I'm just so glad you're home..." He nodded to me, grabbed his coat from the coat rack, and went out to his car. I closed the door as my grandfather and I entered the house. He sat down in his armchair in the parlor, and then looked at me with a face full of seriousness.

"What did you want to tell me?" he asked, sounding concerned.

I removed my hat and my lip trembled. A lump grew yet again in my throat and I looked up to face my grandfather. The words came out softly and weakly. "Grampa..." I whimpered, "I'm sorry..." It all came pouring out at once, and tears began to form in my eyes. "I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry about everything..."

"Sorry?" Grampa said, leaning forward, "No, no... I already said it's not your fault..."

"No," I said, "I'm sorry about everything I've made you go through... And I'm sorry about the way I've been acting lately, as well..." Tears streamed down my cheeks. "I've been selfish and inconsiderate and all I've been thinking about is this damn case..."

"Come here," my grandfather said, holding out his arms. I approached him and sat on his lap, wrapping my arms around him as I had done many times as a child, many years ago. I hugged him tightly, gritting my teeth and letting myself sob for the first time in God knows when. "Don't you worry," Grampa said, running his fingers through my hair, "I know that this time in your life can be exceptionally hard. Your father went through his own hard times as well... I've seen so much of him in you. Always rushing to get things done... Wanting to grow up as soon as possible..." He smiled. "He would be so proud of you if he could see you today... He would be proud beyond words..."

I gripped my grandfather's clothing tightly, trembling. I had forgotten the last time I had a good, long cry. It felt so refreshing and satisfying, but I also felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry that I'm crying..."

"No, don't be sorry," my grandfather chuckled, hugging me tightly. "Even adults have to cry sometimes."

I sat there with him for a few minutes, letting myself cry. The tears never seemed to end. It seemed as if everything I had been holding in throughout the years was suddenly coming out all at once. After a while, I felt fully refreshed, but exhausted. The sobs ended with a soft hiccup, and my grandfather got me a glass of water before I headed upstairs to my bedroom. I took a hearty few gulps of water, placed my hat down on my desk, and then plopped down on my bed without even bothering to change out of my clothes. So much had happened to me within the last few days, and now I could finally rest. I was so exhausted that it did not take long at all for me to fall into a deep, relaxing sleep. To my delight, I felt more at home than ever before.


	8. Ghosts of the Past

It was very bright out when I woke up. The sun shone through my curtains and illuminated my entire room. When I opened my eyes, I was seeing double for a few moments. My head was spinning and I was still drowned in vertigo. When I looked at my clock, I saw that it was nearing three in the afternoon. I had a bit of a double-take when I realized this. I'd never slept in this late before, or this heavily, for that matter. I noticed that I hadn't even moved in my sleep, I had been so tired, and I hadn't dreamt at all, yet I had felt some amount of time pass; it had been a time devoid of thoughts or sound, or even movement. The only thing I had noticed was the slow beating of my heart, which had droned on through the hours of the night and through the day. I couldn't believe I had slept this heavily, but perhaps it was because I needed the rest so badly.

Come to think of it, I would have slept even later, were it not for one factor... I had woken up to the enraged, painful growls that reverberated in my stomach and the gnawing hunger that made my insides feel like a vaccuum. I was starving, more hungry than I had ever been in my life. It was only natural, I guessed, seeing as I had been trapped in that strange world for quite some time. I crawled out of bed despite the dizziness that wavered me, and rubbed my eyes with a yawn. I then noticed my mirror, which was still cracked from the night I was kidnapped.

It pained me to remember that night, but when I looked into the same mirror, now, I saw a different person. I no longer saw the scowling, grimacing boy who was unhappy with his life. Now, I saw a modest young woman who was beginning to feel at ease. It was strange, looking at myself, and seeing the same reflection I always saw in the same mirror, yet seeing a different person stare back at me. My hair, however, was a mess of bedhead. Smiling, I tried straightening it out a bit before turning as I usually did to grab my hat. However, I stopped, and decided I'd go without wearing my hat for the day.

I changed out of the clothes I had been wearing for the past few days, and dressed myself in a simple white dress shirt and blue plaid pants. I decided to take the binding off my chest and not wear it for today, either. After getting dressed, I went downstairs and crossed the parlor to the kitchen. Yakushiji-san wasn't at his desk at the moment, so I guessed he had probably stepped out for a bit. _Perfect,_ I thought to myself as I opened the refrigerator.

We always seemed to be fairly stocked with food because of my grandfather's wealth, and the fact that he usually goes shopping once or even twice a week on his way home from work, and if not, Yakushiji gladly picks things up for us sometimes, since our secretaries have always been somewhat like family to us. I peered into the refrigerator for something I could simply heat up without having to do any actual cooking... I had never really cooked before, since my grandfather loved to do the cooking, and I didn't have much of an interest in it. A box of Chinese takeout caught my eye. There was some fried rice from Aiya in the box, so I took it out from the refrigerator and dumped the entire thing into a bowl to heat up.

As the rice was heating up in the microwave, I leaned against the counter, wincing every time my stomach growled. It seemed like the few minutes I waited were the longest in my life, and I started to salivate ravenously, feeling an almost primal sense of pure hunger.

_Detective Shirogane waits, with a passionate gleam in her livid blue eyes, concealed in the broad-leafed bush of the untamed jungle. Her prey grazes lazily, unaware of her steel watch on the small, defenseless creature. She came here on a rather unexpected vacation, to recuperate and build strength for her next ordeal, and now, she is hungry. She waits and watches, a panther in her own eyes, until just the right moment, when her prey turns its back to her... A mistake for the poor creature, but luck for the detective... As she watches in suspense, growing more and more impatient, it turns... Slowly... Slowly... Until... Finally..._

_Beeeeeeeeeep._

I shook my head and found myself back in reality. My face reddened with embarrassment. I had let my imagination go wild again, and I was humiliated with myself. However, I laughed it off to myself, and felt more embarrassed than angry, as I opened the microwave and pulled out the bowl of fried rice.

Without hesitation, I grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started eating hastily. The fried rice tasted amazing, despite being leftovers from Aiya. I held the bowl to my mouth and shoveled in the rice with the chopsticks, gulping down a few mouthfuls without even chewing. I had never been so hungry, and eating was the best and most satisfyingn feeling in the world right now. I downed half the bowl in only a minute, nearly choking several times in the process. Then, I was startled by footsteps, and Yakushiji poked his head into the kitchen. He bore a confused yet entertained look on his face.

I almost squealed in surprise. "Yakushiji-san!" I said quickly through a huge mouthful of food.

"I expected you would be hungry," Yakushiji chuckled.

I swallowed the enormous mouthful. "I didn't know you were here..."

"I was in your grandfather's study," Yakushiji said, motioning down the hallway, "I was getting some paper to print out information for one of his clients, when I noticed something in there I had never seen before. Do you want to come see?"

He bore a smile, yet his eyes drooped with sadness. I didn't know what he was up to, but I nodded, placing the bowl of fried rice on the counter and walking cautiously with him down the hallway. We made our way into my grandfather's study.

It was smaller than the one he had in our previous house... But it could have just been my sense of perception, because I had been a lot smaller back then. The walls were lined with bookshelves, just as his previous study had been, which were filled with the same old detective novels I had always read as a child. His desk was big and woodcarved, boasting a simple computer and desklamp, as well as stacks of papers which were slightly unkempt. He was a bit less organized than I was, but he still always kept his area tidy.

An armchair sat in the middle of the room, next to a modest fireplace. This armchair wasn't the same armchair I would read in as a child; we had since replaced it. However, many things remained the same, and I had always been uncomfortable about coming in here after spending so much time with these things when I was younger. The most bittersweet memories were of my grandfather reading these same detective novels to me as I sat on his lap, wide-eyed, with a deadly imagination that always teleported me to the scene of the crime.

"As you may know," Yakushiji said, "I was a good friend of your grandfather's years before I became his secretary, and even before I went into the secretary business." He smiled nostalgically as he opened the big, lower drawer of my grandfather's desk. "It's only coincidince that we met up again. I met him when we were both rookies in the service, in another time, and another place... We had some marvellous adventures, your granfather and I..." He began looking through the drawer.

I was surprised. "I knew you had been friends with Grampa," I said, "But I didn't know you had been so close."

"Do you remember when you met me, Naoto?" Yakushiji asked.

I nodded slowly. "I was nine... It wasn't long after Ms. Nomura left."

"Do you remember what you showed me, that first day?" Yakushiki reminisced.

I tried to remember. "I... Showed you those childish detective gadgets I had made... As well as some silly pictures I had drawn..." I chuckled bashfully to myself.

"Oh, they weren't silly to you back then," said Yakushiji, pulling out a small shoe box from the drawer and placing it on Grampa's desk. "These amazing things you made were your life. They were your ambition. Do you remember these...?" He removed the lid from the box. Inside, there were all sorts of familiar things. Old drawings of mine, usually crude scribbles and sketches resembling me in classic detective clothing, holding a magnifying glass with evil perpetrators tied up beside me, lined the bottom of the box. Resting on top of these, unused for many years, were various detective gadgets I had made as a child. I had loved to build things such as these, and whenever I had told someone I had made them, they would stand their with their mouths agape and initially refuse to believe me.

There were pens with tiny video cameras and voice recorders built into them, as well as audio bugs, a pocket knife with many unusual yet useful tools, and many others... However, one thing caught my attention most. I reached into the shoe box and pulled out a detective badge I had created long ago. I would wear this around whenever I played detective, running around like a fool and solving my petty mysteries. It was fake as fake could be, but it had meant so much to me when I was younger...

"Of course I remember them," I replied, exhaling with a sense of bitter nostalgia, "I made these. All of them."

"You showed me some of these things when your grandfather first introduced me to you," Yakushiji said, "I remember looking over them in awe, unable to believe that a child of your age could possibly fabricate something like this. You were quite the detective prodigy, Naoto-sama... You always have been."

I sighed as I stared down at the badge in my hand.

"You continued to make these," said Yakushiji-san, "I remember watching you spend hours putting everything into place, and creating some amazing gizmo, like you were on some sort of assembly line... So absorbed in your work, and so efficient..." He smiled. "It made you so happy, too..." He frowned as I turned my head to the box again, lifting up the crude drawings that covered the bottom. Underneath the sheets of white paper, I saw something else. It was a small photo, and in the lower right-hand corner, the date was printed in tiny orange letters: 3-27-01. This photo was taken on my sixth birthday. However, that wasn't the first thing I had noticed.

I stood there, my mouth slightly open, staring down at the photo I held in my hand, the photo that featured three figures which were all two familiar to me. In the center, I saw my own face, draped with medium-length dark blue hair, with radiant eyes of the brightest blue-grey that could still be called blue-grey. I was happy, happy as could be. It was my sixth birthday, with nothing at all to worry about... Because I did not know what was to happen in less than a year. On either side of me... My parents stood, smiling brightly into the camera. I stared at the picture for a very long time. I hadn't seen any image of my parents in many years. I had refused to look at pictures of them, because I had refused to accept any kind of emotion toward the incident. There was no point in crying, I had always thought... Crying wouldn't ever change the fact that they were gone.

"When your grandfather told me about your parents," Yakushiji said sullenly, "I was devastated. I had met them a few times before, and they were the nicest people, Naoto-sama..."

My eyes began to water, and a lump rose in my throat. I didn't take my eyes off the images of my parents.

Yakushiji continued. "Your grandfather always told me about them... Your father, especially. You share a lot of your father's same traits..." He smiled painfully. "Your grandfather would always tell me how much he was like you. He was always trying to rush things. But you have one major difference."

I looked up at Yakushiji. "What do you mean?"

Yakushiji sighed. "Well... Let's see... How do I put this...? He was a very... Independent man. Didn't want to be told what to do." He chuckled solemnly. "Much like you, in some ways. However... He wasn't too fond of following the Shirogane name, per se."

I was surprised. "What...?"

"Your father didn't like being tied down by the family name. Your grandfather had a very tough time with him at first... He told me it was to the point where he was almost forcing your father to become a detective, like himself."

"That doesn't sound like Grampa at all," I said.

"Yes, well," Yakushiji scratched the back of his neck. "Your grandfather is a very different person now than he was back then. He himself was a lot like you, with a passion to keep up the Shirogane name and do anything it takes in order to achieve that dream." He sighed. "But he learned a lot from your father. At times, it was almost like your father was wiser than your grandfather himself. At least, that's what he told me." He grinned.

"What ever happened to my father, then?" I asked, "Did he not like being a detective...?"

"Oh, no," Yakushiji said, "It wasn't so much that your father hated being a detective. It was more that he hated to be told what to do. He was a very reckless man, your grandfather told me... It wasn't because he was a bad person; it was purely because he loved to rebel and would have done anything to show your grandfather that he couldn't be tamed." He chuckled. "But then, it got too far at one point... He was out drinking one time, and thought it would be amusing in his drunkenness to light a fire in the dumpster out behind the bar. However, he neglected to make the connection that a dumpster behind a bar just _might_ have alcohol in it. He tossed in a match, the dumpster went up in flames, and soon the next few buildings over were engulfed in a small fire."

"My father did this...!?" I exclaimed.

Yakushiji laughed. "Your grandfather always laughed whenever he told me this story. It may have been serious at the moment, but looking back on it, it's funny as hell, considering how out of it he had been. Anyway, your father knew he was in huge trouble and flew the coop. He didn't think he had left any evidence on the scene, and he went weeks without anyone giving him any funny looks, so he thought he had gotten away with it. Well, a few weeks after the incident, a fine-looking young lady rings his doorbell with a warrant for his arrest. Now, you could have imagined the look on his face, after he thought for sure he had evaded the police. He was taken to the station and charged with arson, and then taken in to questioning by the woman who had arrested him... But then he suddenly turned the tables and started questioning _her._

"He was beyond impressed by how she managed to track him down even though he was sure he hadn't left any sort of trail, and she began to go through her procedures and tell him how she was able to find him as a suspect. He was fascinated by how much a detective like herself could do, even when given so little to begin with, and he was fascinated with her, as well. She was very independent for a woman, especially in a male-dominated career track, and she was incredibly smart, as well. Your grandfather was called up, and though he was furious, he helped your father pay off the fine he had been issued. Your father didn't care about his anger, though. He was in love.

"After that, he would continuously make trips to the police station, asking them if they needed any help around the office, seeing as he was in training to become a detective at the time, anyway, however lax he was with such training. He became known around the station, especially by the woman who had arrested him, who began to feel something toward him, as well. Your grandfather noticed that he had also begun to take training more seriously, and when he finished as a fully-fledged detective, it was one of the happiest days of his life. He had made becoming a detective an ambition, not only because he had met a pretty girl, and not only because he had developed an interest in becoming a detective, but because he was ready, Naoto-sama.

"Sure, he had been physically and mentally able to take on this occupation much earlier on in life, but it was now and only now that he was finally ready to become a man and to let go of his childish ways. Your grandfather had forced him to do his own bidding, and not to proceed at his own pace and enjoy the beauty of his days while he was still young. Instead, your father had taken this into his own hands, and though he had been irresponsible at times, he taught your grandfather a great lesson. Your grandfather had no power over what your father did with his life. Only he had the power to do what he felt was right for him in his own heart, and his childhood was just as valuable as his adulthood, if not more valuable. It was then that your grandfather came to be the man you know today." Yakushiji frowned and looked downward. "I think the reason he is so supportive of your own childhood is because he desires a second chance to do over what he had messed up on with your father."

I continued to stare at the photo, a tear dripping from my eye and landing in the center of it. "I never knew any of that."

Yakushiji sighed sorrowfully. "Maybe it's because your grandfather is too pained to tell you any of that out loud. He always tells me how much you remind him of your father..." He looked up at me. "You have his eyes, he always says."

I looked up as well. "His eyes?"

He nodded. "The Shirogane eyes, a notable trait of your family. He always tells me that your father's eyes were a very dull blue-grey, much like your own... But when he realized his dream of being a detective, despite not wanting to do what his father expected of him, his eyes lit up in a remarkable blue. Your eyes were once like that, as well..." He glanced at the photo I held in my hand. Indeed, they were remarkably bright, compared to the color of my eyes currently.

"Your eyes have become rather dull, over the years, I assume," he continued.

"Yes," I said, "I don't have control over the color of my eyes... It happens to many people, actually..."

Yakushiji nodded slowly. "Yes... Of course..." He looked into the shoe box full of old creations of mine. "Do you remember how much fun you had creating these...?"

"I guess," I replied.

He looked at me hopefully. "What if you made another...?"

I looked at him, my face paling slightly, and I took a step back. "...I'm not very interested in such creations anymore."

A look of disappointment appeared on his face. "Not even one? If necessary, I could go out and get you whatever you needed-"

"No," I cut him off, and we were both silent for a few moments. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Yakushiji-san, but I am a real detective, now. There's no need for me to partake in such childish notions..." I stopped myself, remembering the things my Shadow had said, and how I had hoped to accept my inner child. I apologized to myself... I was still not ready to take actions such as this...

"No, don't be sorry," said Yakushiji, smiling disappointedly, "It's quite alright, I assure you... I understand." He slipped the lid back over the shoe box and then returned the box to the drawer. "I'm the one who should be sorry for wasting your time."

"It's okay," I said, gripping the photo by my side, "I mean... It wasn't a waste. Trust me... It was a pleasure to hear about my father..."

Yakushiji nodded, smiling. "It's more than a pleasure to have told you."

I turned and began to walk out of the room, but then I stopped. "But, there's one thing you've neglected to tell me, though I believe I can already guess the answer."

"Yes?" he said.

"I never leave a mystery unsolved," I said, "So tell me... Who was that woman who had arrested my dad?"

Yakushiji grinned. "I had a feeling you would ask that, but why do you need to ask me?"

"A good detective never closes a case without a confirmed answer."

He chuckled softly. "You are quite the detective, but you already know who it was."


	9. A Painful Conversation

**ANNOUNCEMENT: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with school and other things, and I was away all last weekend at Anime Boston. Summer's coming up, so hopefully I can get some more writing done! This isn't much, but I wanted to get something up for you guys this weekend. ^^ More to come soon!**

**-Purple**

* * *

I was startled awake by the sound of the front door creaking open, and was in a daze for a few moments, not even remembering that I had dozed off while watching TV in the parlor. I was so out of it that I barely even knew where I was, or who I was, for that matter. I started to come back to my senses when I remembered tucking the photo of me and my parents safe inside my desk before coming back downstairs to finish eating and watch some television. I didn't usually watch television, but seeing as there wasn't much to do around here when I wasn't doing homework or working on case files, I decided to give it a try and watch a reality crime show I had heard a few students at school gossip about. ...It was very inaccurate in comparison to actual crime and investigation.

When I regained my senses, I noticed that my grandfather had been the one to open the door. He was home from work. He turned to me with a smile on his face, and then came over and ruffled my hair. "Hey, Naoto," he said softly, "Feeling any better?"

"Somewhat," I said, stretching out my arms.

"I talked to the principal of your school," he said, "And I thought you'd like to know that you can take all the time off that you need, as long as you do your best to catch up afterwards."

"Thank you, Grampa," I said, stretching.

My grandfather nodded, and then his smile fell a little. He leaned toward me, and in a quiet voice, he said, "So... Do you remember... You know... Anything?"

I looked into his eyes. These eyes, as I now noticed, were the same Shirogane eyes Yakushiji had told me about, which I, as well as my father, possessed. They were the same blue-grey, though notably brighter than my own, and had the same slightly drooping eyelids. I wondered why I had not noticed this before; after all, I did see myself in the mirror every morning, as well as my grandfather. I sat up on the couch, and tried to sound as honest as I could. "No, I don't." I sighed. "I'm sorry, Grampa. I don't remember a single thing." My eyes darted around the room as I tried to think up an explanation. "I answered the door, I was thrown into some sort of bag, and... The next thing I knew, I woke up on the floor of Junes." I sounded as truthful as I possibly could."A group of teenagers found me."

"Teenagers...?"

My forehead began to sweat under my dark blue bangs. "A few... Friends of mine."

My grandfather suddenly stared at me, his mouth agape, before his face lit up in a brilliant smile. "Friends? Naoto-kun, you made friends?"

My face reddened. Part of me regretted saying that. "Uhh, yes, well, I-" Before I could continue, his arms were around me and I was being strangled by the shoulder that was driven into my throat.

"I'm so happy for you, Naoto," Grampa said, hugging me tightly, "I can't remember the last time you made new friends. Oh, you'd always have your nose in those books and wouldn't bother with the others... You've always been so antisocial... This is great!"

"A-antisocial!?" I sputtered, when he finally released his grip on me, chuckling heartily.

"I always knew you'd come around," he beamed.

"Yes, well," I said, straightening out my hair awkwardly, "They kind of... Came on to me. I didn't care for them all that much, initially... However, they were just so... Relentless..."

"Relentless or not," my grandfather said, "This is great, Naoto-kun! You should go out with them some time, or we could even have them over here-"

"T-that's enough!" I said, blushing heavily. I couldn't have my grandfather impose on them right away, or get too excited... If they ended up not liking me, and rejecting me just as other students always had, I wouldn't want to get his hopes up. "I mean... N-not yet. I... I don't fully trust them... They're a bit of a... Rambunctious bunch, I guess..."

My grandfather's face fell a bit. "You're not with the wrong crowd, are you...?"

My reddened face soon paled. "N-no! That's not what I meant...! They're a good group of friends, I can promise you that much..." I swallowed hard, and hastily changed the subject. "Anyway... I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Grampa," I spoke up, "What can you tell me about my parents?"

His smile quickly faded to a frown as he stared at me, a look of dread appearing on his face. "Oh," he said, "Well... I guessed that you would end up asking, eventually..."

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just.." He sighed. "It's hard for me to talk about them, sometimes..." his voice trembled.

"You don't have to, then," I said, somewhat disappointed.

"No, no," Grampa said, "You should be able to hear about your parents. I had always figured that you would want to know more eventually, when you were ready."

I choked down a lump in my throat, and nodded.

"Well, then," my grandfather said, sitting beside me. His eyes shifted to the side, and with a smile, he leaned over and picked up an old, battered, hard-cover copy of _The Face_ by Seicho Matsumoto. "Do you remember this book?"

I nodded, smiling. "There's no way I wouldn't remember. You read it to me all the time when I was a child." I took the book from him and held it in my hands, flipping through some of the pages. "And then I started reading it on my own. I've read it probably five or six times, altogether. It was one of my favorites."

"Well," my grandfather said, "When your father was a child, the same age you had been, I would read that same book to him.

I stared at him, wide-eyes, and then stared back down at the book.

"See that rip in the front page?" he said, pointing to the front page of the book, which I opened up to, "He did that." He laughed heartily. "The little tyke; I told him not to be so rough, but he insisted on turning the pages himself!"

"I never would have realized..."

"You and him were so alike, Grampa smiled, reminiscent. "I'd read the same books to him as I would to you, and he'd always be so eager to find out what would happen in the end. Niether of you could go about doing another thing without solving the mystery first." He chuckled, and then grimaced in bitter nostalgia. "However, there was one thing I came to notice in you which I had not expected-yet another behavior you shared with him."

"...What was it?" I asked, swallowing hard.

He was silent for a few moments, before answering. "After a while, you'd be able to solve the crime before the characters in the story."

I looked at him. He took the novella from me and stared down at it, and I could tell that he was trying his hardest not to cry. _Please don't cry,_ I thought to myself, a burning feeling stinging at the base of my throat. _I wouldn't be able to take it, either..._ I had never seen my grandfather cry before, or I at least hadn't seen him cry since I was too young to remember. It hurt just to think about it; I'd always seen my grandfather as a very strong man, especially having been through World War II, being sent to examine the remains of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to consult with furious American soldiers; the grueling experiences of his life as a notorious detective, and, of course, the trauma of losing his only son, my father. Through all of this, he had remained strong, yet here he was, choking back tears over mear memories. I had always looked up to him, wanted to be like him, even, yet here he was, his face reddening, and his eyes glazed over. I grew angry inside, thinking _why do you cry? You're supposed to be an adult! You're supposed to be strong! I thought you were strong! Why can't you be STRONG!?_

Then, it hit me. As my own eyes began to water, I understood. He _had_ been strong. He had been stronger than I could have ever hoped to be. He had been strong for me. I hadnt seen him cry for all these years, because he had been concealing his true feelings so that I didn't suffer, so that I would feel everything was alright. He was strong so that I could be strong, and I understood. I understood completely.

"And... Your eyes," he continued, his voice shaking as he struggled to keep back the tears, "Whenever I see those eyes of yours, they bring me right back to those times, decades ago, when he'd look up at me with those same eyes... Those-"

"Shirogane eyes."

He looked down at me, surprised, and amazed.

I nodded briefly. "I know."

Grampa's eyes, his own, tired, experienced Shirogane eyes, which had seen so much, began to water as he quickly turned away, refusing o show me his tormented face.

We were both silent for a long while, and a tightness grew in my chest. Before long, I felt obligated to do something. Tugging lightly at my grandfather's clothing, I opened my mouth, letting words of consolation flow out of me.

"It's alright," I said softly, "It's okay..."

Suddenly, before I could say anything else, he turned back to me ant wrapped his arms around me, crying his heart out. I soon found myself doing the same, digging my face into his shoulder, and sobbing uncontrollably. I never took any time to think about it, but I really missed my parents, even though I remembered very little of them. Sure, I had become exceptionally close to my grandfather, as well as our secretaries from over the years, but I had been missing the most vital relationships of my life ever since the accident that killed them, and no grandfather or secretart could have ever even hoped to replace them.

"He was a very good detective," my grandfather sniffed, pulling out of the hug, "A fascinating man, he was..."

"Grampa..."

"He didn't want to be a detective, at first... Well, that, or he just refused to follow my wishes..."

"I know," I said, wiping my soaked eyelids on my sleeve. "Yakushiji-san told me about that, and how he eventually accepted his role as a detective."

Grampa nodded. "He became a well-known detective, just as I had, as well as you, and the generations before us. He made the fourth generation of Shirogane detectives, my father-your great grandfather-and his father, your great-great grandfather, being the first and second. However, he hadn't always wanted to be a detective. Yes, he became interested in the law enforcement business early on in life, seeing as my father and I both ate, slept, and breathed criminal justice and investigation, but when he entered his teenage years, he began to reject his life as a detective in training, as you've heard." He sighed. "The way I treated him... So hung up on honor toward the family, and my duty of carrying on the detective bloodline..."

"You regret it..." I said, "Don't you...?"

He was silent. After looking down at me, he looked away, staring sullenly at the front door. A long, silent moment slowly passed, filled only with the solitary ticking of the clock sitting on the mantlepiece above the fireplace. He scratched the back of his head. "Yes," he finally said, "I do regret it." He looked shamefully down at the floor. "I suspect Mr. Yakushiji informed you about that, as well."

I nodded.

Grampa sighed. "Naoto-kun..." his voice was soft. "Naoto-kun, Yakushiji and I... We both encourage you to embrace your childhood, while it lasts, for the sake of your father."

"...What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that... I missed my chance with your father. I didn't support his ideals; I only supported my own. I forced him to be like my own father and I, as well as my grandfather, when I should have supported his choice to stray from becoming a detective."

"But he did choose to become a detective, in the end," I said. My grandfather looked at me with a remorseful expression. I continued. "In fact, if you hadn't forced that aspiration on him in the first place, he probablt wouldn't have rebelled, and most likely would not have met my mother. Grampa, the past is just that-past-and were it not for your actions, however unjust they may have been, I may not have ever existed." I delicately moved my hand over his hand, which was resting on the couch, and and reassuringly interlocked my fingers with his. "Everything that happens has meaning behind it. We cannot dwell on the past... We can only move on from it."

My grandfather smiled down at me. "You're absolutely right, Naoto-kun." he ruffled my hair. "And, yes, he did decide to follow in our predecessors' footsteps in the end. I don't think he ever completely gave up on his childhood dream. It was just my imposing nature that turned him in the opposite direction... He had always loved the idea of freedom, and hated the idea of inherited occupation. He wanted to run his own life, and in the end, he did... I think your mother reminded him of what it really meant to be a detective.

"You see... She would always go around saying 'the truth will set you free,' and other things sch as that. In fact, I remember when you were just a little runt, running around on those newly-mastered legs, and getting into just about everything. One day, I was visiting your first home while your father was out on a long-term case across the country, and you had gotten into a whole container of chocolate syrup..." He laughed. "I remember how much you loved it back then. Your mother found you with your face covered in chocolate, the container hidden under the rug... And you denied everything! I remember your mother leaning down to you, a disappointed look on her face... And what she said was, 'Naoto-chan, I want to know the truth.' And then, you questioned why she was always talking about the truth, and why she always wanted the truth so much. What was so special about the truth? Well, she said, 'Listen here, Naoto, and listen well. If you live in a world shrouded in lies, your world becomes dark and uncertain. However, if you live in a world cleared by the truth, you will always, _always_ know the way.'" He grinned, and then leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. "Your mother was such a wise, brave woman. I'm so glad she was the one to marry your father. She did set him straight, after all."

I grinned, thinking to myself. I had remembered that quote of my mother, deep down. It was partially because of her that the truth was my only needed reward, as well. Perhaps it was something I had inherited from her.

"Well," my grandfather said, standing up, "That's all I'll go into for now... I'm getting painfully nostalgic just assessing all of this." He smiled weakly. "You can get back to resting, if you want."

I stretched. "I feel fine, for now."

He nodded. "Oh, I went shopping earlier. I'm going to cook you up something nice for dinner. You must be starving."

"I am," I chuckled, blushing. The fried rice I had eaten earlier stil wasn't nearly enough to satiate me.

"Good," Grampa smiled, "Then you are going to love it."


	10. I Return to Yasogami

_"...And this is the playground. We come here right after lunch every day."_

_"Wow, it's so big! What do you guys do here?"_

_"We play out here, stupid. What else would you do in a playground?"_

_"Well, we usually play tag or hide-and-seek, but there aren't a lot of places to hide, and the teachers get mad at us sometimes if we run too fast. We also play on the swings and the slide, but everyone's always fighting over the swings."_

_"Well, there_

_are a lot of kids here... Who's that?"_

_The young boy looked in the direction that the new girl had pointed. "That girl? Oh, that's Naoto. We don't talk to her."_

_"Why not...?" said the little girl, "She looks lonely..."_

_"She's weird," said the little boy, "We tried to play with her, but she would always say she was busy reading those big stupid books about detectives. And when she did try to play with us, she'd always want to play detective. She had long hair before, but one day she came to school and it was really short, like a boy. She's also a nerd. She's really smart, but she never talks to anybody."_

_"Oh," said the new girl, "I guess that is kinda weird."_

_The two children continued on with their play without a care in the world. The boy showed the girl around the playground, and she met all kinds of new friends on her first day at a new school. Little did they know that the small girl who sat on the steps of the door which lead into the courtyard, whose reddened face was hidden behind a collection of fairly interesting Sherlock Holmes stories, had heard every word of theirs._

Slowly, the vision of my room came into focus. My head was spinning as I gradually awoke. It was the day after the conversation I had with my grandfather, and I felt incredibly woozy. What made it even worse was the panic I experienced with the dream I had just woken up from. My heart was beating rapidly, and my breath came quickly as well. It didn't take much to realize what was imperative to do. I jolted up out of bed and dashed across the hallway into the bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet and clutching my stomach. A searing pain erupted from inside me and I winced, hastily running my weak fingers through my hair. My brow was soaked in sweat and I was trembling violently. My chest seemed to rivet with every heartbeat.

Suddenly, a bolt of pain struck into my core. Flashes of white seemed to appear in my head, and I arched forward as my abdomen clenched up. I coughed and gagged, spasms of an unknown pain running through me like electricity. Voices echoed in the back of my mind, ringing out in taunting chants.

_"You're so stupid. You can't be a detective. You're a girl."_

I sputtered, groaning in pain.

_"...Now in the local news, we bring you the latest details on the rising child detective, Naoto Shirogane. She played a key role in the solving of the recent break-in case at a local liquor store... However, critics of her ethic are suggesting that she may encounter critical difficulties in her career on account of her age and sex..."_

I gagged again, and this time, I got out what I needed to get out. Afterwards, I sunk to the floor and panted heavily, tears forming at my lower eyelids. So much for eating well, I thought to myself, swallowing the repulsive taste in my mouth. An overwhelming wave of relief washed over me, and I sighed, leaning against the wall. I was so dizzy that it felt as if the wall was sucking me into it, and I couldn't be sure exactly where my center of gravity was. I sat there for a while, breathing heavily and letting myself calm down.

After getting a glass of water and gulping it down to wash out the bitter taste in my mouth, I returned to my room and pulled out a favorite crime novel from one of my bookshelves (I tend to be a bit of a book hoarder, since I love to read but hate throwing things away) and sat down at my desk to read in order to clear my head. It was a fairly easy read, and I had read it multiple times before. Ah, yes. The relaxing feel of the book in my hand, the soft sound of its binder cracking open and the feathery touch of its pages flitting through my fingers proved to be a thousand times better than any TV. A warm cup of coffee might have been nice, though I decided against it, seeing as a slight sting of nausea still lingered in my throat and I didn't suppose I could keep it down. It was best to keep my stomach empty for now.

A little more than half an hour later, I delicately closed the book and placed it on my desk after reading the last words. It was always a satisfying ending. I stretched, feeling much better than I had before. Now, after a few days of rest, it was time to analyze some things.

First and foremost, my gut feeling about the culprit still being at large had turned out to be precise. Though I had to pay the price in order to prove this theory, it had been well worth it, and showed results that were quite favorable, yet also quite alarming and disturbing. Whoever was going around and kidnapping these people was still out there, and...

My nose wrinkled and I shook my head. I didn't even want to think about it, but if this culprit was still at large, which proved to be true, they could take yet another victim. Come to think of it, this very fact was one of the reasons I had been watching TV the previous day. Another theory of mine had been proven correct: The victims were indeed kidnapped shortly after being shown on television. Now that this was a viable fact, there could possibly be a way to prevent any further kidnappings. I would need to keep a close eye on the local news from now on.

Secondly was the matter of the strange world that the kidnapper had thrown me into. Now that my head was clear enough to think, I needed to assess exactly what had happened and where I had been. Much of my memory was permanently blurred, but I remembered the confrontation with my Shadow vividly.

The area into which I had been brought resembled a secret military base or laboratory like those that would be found in science fiction movies and manga. My Shadow had told me that my surroundings were created from myself. If it was correct, what could the appearance of the secret laboratory have meant? I thought deeply to myself, and decided to relate it to the Shadow itself. Now that I remembered, it had acted rather childish. The laboratory must have represented child's play; more importantly the settings of my own imagination many years ago. These childish ideas were suppressed thoughts of my own. Is this what my Shadow had meant? It, after all, was the side of myself that I had yet to face until then. Maybe the appearance of the environment in that world were affected by such feelings, as well. I concluded that this must be the case.

Another strange thing that I had noticed about the world I was in was the peculiar and ridiculous amount of fog that filled every square inch of the place. It had been so thick that I could barely see, and thinking back, I had developed a splitting headache and became discombobulated for the past few days. This brought a decent amount of concern to my attention about the strange fog. Could it have had any effect on my condition? If so, I guessed that the other victims must have experienced the effects of the fog, as well. Perhaps I should bring up this subject to them, if they had not thought about it previously.

Yet another thing came to mind, and my chest tightened up when I remembered it. The group of students I had been keeping an eye on now knew that I was female. I swallowed hard. It seemed inevitable that the rest of my school, and even the rest of Inaba, would soon find out as well. This realization made my face pale. That was right... The police were soon to find out, too, considering how quickly rumors seemed to diffuse in this small town. I was worried about what they would say, considering I lied to them about my gender. Never mind about that, though, for the moment; I put it on the back burner for the time being. I was off the case, anyway, no matter how much it pained me to think about it. I continued thinking over the situation.

Finally, I thought to myself, and most importantly for the moment, how would the case continued to be handled? I tapped the end of my pen against my desk, looking down and noticing that I had hardly realized I was taking notes. In front of me was a notepad already neatly opened and scribbled all over with small, hastily-written kanji characters in blue ink. It amazed and perplexed me that sometimes my brain worked independently from my body. I chewed the cap of my pen, staring down at the sentence I had just written.

_Perhaps I should join the others..._

Join the others? I cracked the pen cap with my teeth. Well, this pen's days were officially numbered as of now. How could I possibly join them...? I hadn't made any friends in years, I was constantly moving... Surely I wasn't going to remain in Inaba for very long, either... How was I to befriend them? They wouldn't have liked to have me around, anyway. I mean, what kind of entertainment could I have possibly provided them with? The only thing I was good at, or would ever be good at, was reading and playing detective, just as it had been many years ago in elementary school.

Wait, I thought, that's just it. Wasn't that what the others had been doing all along, anyway? Playing detective? In that case, maybe I _did_ have a chance of fitting in with them. Maybe-though it was merely wishful thinking-they could have valued my detective skills in some way. I blushed as I thought of this. _No,_ I thought inside my head,_They'd never want me around; no one has ever wanted me around, except for the damn police._

I sighed, picked up the notepad on my desk and smacked myself in the face with it. _No, stop thinking that way. This is for the good of the case._ I tried to convince myself that it _was_ only good for the case, but something in me made me feel like I was deceiving myself yet again. Deep down, I wanted to be with them.

"It's settled," I said out loud, to set the words in stone, "I am going to ask them, no matter what." I would tell them everything that they needed to know, and then I would ask if my skills would be needed at all. I stood up, closed the notepad, and slipped it inside one of the desk drawers.

* * *

A quiet, high-pitched beeping sounded from the watch around my wrist. My eyes blinked open, and after hesitating, I rolled over in bed and brought both of my hands up in front of my face to turn off the alarm. I opened my mouth wide and yawned, glancing out my window and noticing that the sun was still hidden beneath the horizon, and that the rain which hadn't let up for the past three days had finally ceased to fall overnight. It was a few days later, October sixth. Over the past few days, I had tried my best to recover from the fatigue of facing my Shadow. I had been eating lightly and drinking large quantities of water, and I now felt much better, despite the slight imbalance in digestion, which was probably just from not eating for several days and then gorging myself.

Finally, I was well enough to return to school. I grinned as I sat up in bed, and then got ready to start the day.

When I reached Yasogami high school, I stopped in my tracks and swallowed, staring forward through the front gates. I exhaled, realizing that there was one thing I had to do before I could really begin a new life. I walked through the front doors, past the lockers, and down the hallway to the faculty office. I hesitated, staring at the door for a long period of time. This would be most comfortably executed now, before many other students arrived and began to roam the halls. I reached out my hand, feeling my heart rate increase, paused, and then placed my hand on the door handle, carefully sliding it open.

On the other side of the door was the person I had hoped to see: The headmaster. He was talking to one of the sophomore teachers, Mrs. Sofue, who looked at me when I walked in, wearing the usual Egyptian burial crown resembling that of King Tut which she always wore. The headmaster looked at me as well.

"Mr. Shirogane," he said in his usual calm voice, "Please come in. Is there something on your mind?"

I closed the door behind me and stared down at the floor. "There is something I'd like to confess to you, actually."

* * *

They took the news surprisingly well. Both of them were shocked initially, but as I explained more of my situation and what prompted me to lie about my sex, their understanding of me increased. The headmaster reassured me that there would be no penalty, and allowed me to continue wearing the masculine school uniform. Filled with gratitude, I thanked them as I left the faculty office, and requested that they inform the other teachers as well. Afterwards, I closed the door and promptly let out an enormous sigh of relief, bending over and putting my hands on my knees. That was a lot off my chest, and now, I felt slightly more cheerful. The others must be arriving soon, I assumed, and so I walked back to the front doors to look for them.

I spotted them walking up to the entrance of the school as I walked out of the building. Feeling a twinge of anxiety in my chest, I approached them, keeping myself calm. Questions and "what-if's" ran through my head, but I did my best to dispel them as I came into their view.

It was Yu, Yosuke, and Chie. The others, I suspected, would be arriving later. The three of them grinned when they saw me, seemingly glad that I was back in school. Chie spoke up first. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked.

"Yes, thanks to all of you," I replied, feeling much obliged. "I'd like to thank you once again for what happened."

"Don't mention it," Yosuke said, "But hey, your uniform..."

"Huh?" I looked down at my uniform. He must have been questioning the fact that I continued to wear the boys' uniform and still bound my chest, despite my true gender having been revealed to them. "Ah... Yes. After contemplating the matter, I went with what I've been wearing thus far. There's no need for you to-"

"Hey, it's the Detective Prince." Suddenly, my ear perked at the sound of a conversation I picked up from a group of students walking past us. The topic struck my interest, as they had mentioned my public title, so I decided to listen in.

"That's no Prince. I heard "he's" a she!" My heart dropped when I heard this. So, this is how they reacted. The cat was out of the bag, and I had no chance of stopping it.

"Huh!?" said the first student, "Y-You serious!? If he's a she, then uh... O-Oh crap!"

"Aww..." said a girl with short hair, "I'm kinda disappointed, but then again, there's something neat about it..."

"Yeah..." another girl joined in, "If you look at it in a certain way, doesn't she seem pretty cool?"

Cool? My heart raised a little, but I smirked in disbelief. How could cross dressing make me look any degree "cool?" Still, the fact that they seemed to take an interested liking to my secret made me feel honored, yet also embarrassed. I didn't care what the other students thought of me, but at least they weren't saying anything hurtful. However, even so, I felt a slight sense of depression now that people knew.

"My, my..." I sighed, "Rumors spread so quickly."

"We're on your side," said Yu.

When he spoke, it brought a bit of a blush to my face. Were they really on my side? This was definitely a first. "Th-Thank you..." Ugh, come now, what was that? I tried to shake the nervous feeling out of my core and bring back my usual sophisticated way of dealing with things. "But it doesn't bother me at all. There's no need to worry on my behalf. So please treat me as you did before." It really didn't bother me... There was no sense in worrying what others thought or said. Besides, I was used to being gossiped about behind my back... I decided to change the subject. "That aside, I'd like to discuss the case with you all. We're dealing with a kidnap-and-murder case perpetrated by someone lurking in this very town. And it isn't over yet..." It was almost time for school to begin. If we were going to discuss the case, our best bet was to meet up somewhere afterwards. "Let's go over the finer points after school."

The three of them nodded. "We can tell the others to join us, if you want," Yu said.

I nodded in agreement. "That would be preferable."

"Great," Chie squeaked, "Meet us all at Junes right after school, then."

"Understood," I said before turning around and walking back into the school.

It was fairly easy for me to catch up to the material we were now going over in my classes. I caught on rather quickly, which surprised most of my teachers. However, I still had a lot of work I needed to make up for the time I missed. I could have easily completed it over the next few days, though. One thing I noted, however, was the fact that the teachers seemed a bit uneasy around me. It seemed that they were unsure of how to register the fact that I was female, rather than male as they had previously thought. The male teachers also seemed intent to go easier on me, while the females tended to be a bit more firm with me. The students, on the other hand, seemed to avoid me at all costs, at first. Why was this...? It was as if I had been infected with some kind of contagious disease. Well, at least this was better than being suffocated by crowds of swooning fangirls and constantly being asked out by them. Still... I couldn't help but feel I was being talked about wherever I went, which most definitely was the case.

Soon lunchtime came, and I prepared myself for another lonely lunch break. However, when I left my classroom, Rise-chan approached me with a cheerful smile.

"Hello, Naoto-kun!" she piped up. "Oh, or would you rather have me call you Naoto-chan?"

I looked downward. "Whichever comes most comfortably to you."

"Oh," Rise said, "Alright, then. I'll just stick with '-kun' for now. It's what I'm used to."

I nodded, grinning. "Do you want to come have lunch with us?" Rise asked.

I looked back up at her. "Really? Are you sure?" I was more than surprised.

"Yeah!" Rise beamed. She seemed to be in a cheery mood. "Me, Kanji and Yosuke are meeting in Yu-senpai's homeroom."

"W-Well," I said, looking back down, "I apologize, but I haven't even brought lunch today. I got sick a few days ago and I've had a slight loss of appetite ever since then."

"Aw, that's fine," Rise said, "Kanji brought a huge platter of sushi. You don't have to eat if you don't want, but we're going to have plenty to go around."

I sighed to myself, feeling nervous. I felt like I would have done anything to avoid the awkwardness of dining with them, especially after what happened on Tatsumi Port Island, but I could feel my stomach tightening up with a slight twinge of hunger. I regretted not bringing anything to eat. "Alright," I nodded, "I'll go with you guys."

"Great!" Rise cheered, suddenly taking me by the hand. Before I could say anything, she ran down the hallway, and I stumbled as she dragged me along.

"H-Hey!" I protested, "I apologize for speaking out like this, but isn't this a bit unnecessary!? Rise-san- _Rise-san, please let go of my hand!_" She stopped abruptly at the top of the stairs on the second floor, and I stumbled forward, nearly falling over. Panting, I looked up at her, wide-eyed and shocked. "Was that... Was that really required...?"

Rise giggled. "No, silly, but where's your sense of fun?"

I wrinkled my nose, my eyes still wide in confusion. "Fun?" Before I could say anything else, she grabbed my hand again and pulled me into classroom 2-2. I looked around, slightly dazed, and then stood upright and fixed my hat when I felt the students' eyes fall upon me. "Uh... Hello, everyone..."

"Naoto-kun!" Yosuke winked from where he sat at his desk. "I'm glad you decided to come."

"Yeah," Kanji said quietly, "Uh... Hey there, Naoto." He quickly looked away, and proceeded to punch Yosuke after he nudged him in the side.

Rise giggled again as she approached the two boys and sat down at one of the desks in front of them. "Don't be shy, Naoto-kun, come sit with us!"

"Right," I said as I sat down at the desk next to her, turning around to face the others. I noticed that two other students were in the room, as well as the teacher. Kou Ichijo and Daisuke Nagase were standing in front of the teacher's desk, talking to a rather busty middle-aged woman with smooth, light brown hair. It was Ms. Kashiwagi. All three of them looked back at me, and as I feared, Kou and Daisuke's faces fell when they saw me.

I felt like I wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there for a month.

"Oh, hey there, _miss_ Naoto," Kashiwagi said suavely, "We were just talking about you."

Scratch that- Make that my entire life. I noticed that I was just barely peering out of the top of the houndstooth-patterned collar on my uniform, and my hat was covering my head just an inch from the collar. My face was bright red.

"H-hey," Daisuke waved, "About the school trip..."

"Just forget about it," Kou said, "We don't blame you for getting grouped with us. It's not a big deal. I mean... At least we didn't change in front of each other or anything-"

"Thank GOD," Daisuke blurted out.

"_Shut up!_" Kou whispered.

"I'm sorry, man!" Daisuke whispered back, "I'm still in shock... Ow!" Kou had elbowed him sharply in the arm.

"Anyway," Kou said, scratching the back of his head and grinning, "Just wanted you to know that everything's alright! It's not your fault or anything."

"Th-Thank you," I said quietly.

"What's this about?" Yosuke asked.

I sighed. "Do you remember the skanky hotel we stayed at during the school trip? Well... I had to room with those two."

"Seriously?" Rise whispered, "That must've been awkward!"

"It was," I said softly, "Very much so..."

"Detective Prince," Kashiwagi said as she walked over to me, "Very ironic, don't you think? You know... Since you're not even a 'prince' to begin with?"

I lowered the brim of my hat, covering up my face.

"I have to admit," she continued, smirking in the smug way she usually did, "I had a bit of an interest in you, when you first showed up here. Must be exciting, being a prodigy ace detective at such a young age. You sure gave us teachers a thrill, I can tell you that. And do you know what else? A lot of them are actually still very interested in you. They're always talking about how great of a student you are, and how you've given light to Yasogami over the time that you've been here. _They._ Listen here, Missy, the other teachers are easy to fool, but I've seen your type lots of times before, and I know just how to deal with them. I'm not saying you are, but if you're thinking of schmoozing the other teachers into giving you better grades and better recommendations, it's not going to work."

I looked up at her, dumbfounded. "I apologize... But I can honestly say that I have no idea what you are getting at."

She sneered down at me. "Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm getting at." With that, she turned and left the room.

I watched as she closed the door behind her, and then looked back to the others with a confused expression. "What just happened?"

"You learn to live with her after a while," Yosuke said, sounding bored. "That's Kashiwagi for you."

"Oh my god!" Rise squealed, "I can't believe a teacher would say something like that to a student! I'm still in shock!"

"She does that a lot," Yosuke said, "When I said she's even worse than King Moron, I wasn't kidding."

"You have some very strange teachers at this school," I said, half laughing to myself in disbelief.

Rise giggled. "Yeah, some of them can be pretty weird, but most of them are still lovable. Trust me, though, I've come across even weirder people in my career."

"As have I," I said, smiling, "Though I must admit I've never seen a teacher with such envy for a student."

Rise and Yosuke laughed, but Kanji was silent. Yosuke seemed to have noticed this. "Hey, Kanji, you've been pretty quiet. Something up?

"What?" Kanji said, sounding distracted, "Oh, uh, no. Just tired is all. Man, I couldn't sleep last night."

"You haven't been able to sleep for a week," Yosuke observed. "Dude, you sure nothing's bugging you?"

"I'm sure, damn it," Kanji growled.

"Okay, okay," Yosuke laughed. "Wow, you're pretty irritable when you're tired."

Kanji grunted. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sleep better tonight."

"Why?" Rise asked.

"Oh," Kanji said, seeming flustered, "Uh... Well... I guess just because of something that's reassured me lately..."

"Reassured you?" Yosuke said, suddenly nudging him, "Like what?"

"Just something I've been thinking about lately, now shut the hell up!" Kanji's head was on the desk, running his fingers through his short, bleached hair. "Why do I gotta tell you everything all the time!? Eat your damn sushi."

I had almost forgotten about the sushi platter that was laid out in front of us on Yosuke's desk. I looked down at it, drooling at the sight. I hadn't had a hearty meal since the night before I got sick. There were all kinds of sushi: Salmon, tuna, yellowtail, halibut, shrimp, octopus, crab, egg, fish egg, fatty tuna, eel... _UGH!_ I couldn't decide which one I wanted first! I was starving, and I supposed that perhaps my digestion was finally regulating. After Rise took the first piece of sushi, I took a pair of chopsticks from beside the platter, split them apart, and reached for a piece of tuna to start off simple. The second the sticky rice touched my tongue, shivers were sent down my spine as my mouth filled with flavor. I placed the entire thing in my mouth, chewing slowly to savor the delicate fish. I didn't remember the last time I ate sushi, but it was definitely at least before I was kidnapped. Looking back on it, the time before I was kidnapped seemed like forever ago.

"Aren't you going to have any, senpai?" Rise asked Yosuke.

He looked up at her from his phone, which he had been sending a text with. "Hmm? Oh, no. I hate fish. I can barely look at the stuff." His face contorted in disgust.

Rise looked at him in surprise. "You hate fish!? But how can you not like fish!? You live in Japan, for God's sake!"

"Just look at that stuff!" Yosuke said, motioning to the elegant slices of fish laid out on clumps of sticky white rice, "It's all slimy and sick and just completely repulsive! How can you _like_ that stuff? Ugh, I even hate living fish. They just creep me out so much."

"Well, your loss," Rise said, stuffing another piece of sushi into her mouth. I picked up another as well, and decided to strike up a conversation and discuss some things in the time that we had. I searched for a topic I felt I should know more about.

"If you don't mind me asking," I said, "I wanted to know a little more about... Teddie, was it?"

The others nodded.

"Well, first of all... Why does he always go around wearing that bear costume of his?"

"Well, that's Teddie for you," Yosuke said. "No, I mean literally, that _is_ Teddie. You might thing that the bear is the costume, but it's actually the opposite way around." He leaned in closer to me and spoke quietly. "When Yu, Chie and I first met him in the TV world, that's what he looked like. In fact, he was just a completely empty animated bear suit for the longest time. Then, he faced himself like the rest of us did, and got a Persona. After that, he grew a freaking human inside of him!"

I was about to put another piece of sushi into my mouth, but I paused and looked at him when I heard him say this. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah!" Rise said, "The human version of him that you saw the night of the school trip isn't even the real him! Well, I guess it _is_ the real him, but... You know what I mean!"

"It is just an alternate appearance," I said, "I understand." I placed the sushi in my mouth.

Rise nodded, and then Yosuke continued. "Anyway, Teddie tries to act all cutsie and adorable, but he's really a bear-y huge pain in the ass."

"You're starting to sound like him yourself, senpai," Rise giggled.

"He's from the TV world, but he lives with me for now," Yosuke said. "We're... Not exactly sure just what he is. Neither is he. And that's what he had to face when his shadow confronted him. You see... He doesn't know anything about himself. He doesn't know where he comes from or what his purpose is, or even what he is. For a long time he just felt empty and useless. That's why he stood up to his shadow and tried his best to join us in fighting shadows." He looked down, smiling weakly. "It must really suck for him, you know?"

"Hm?" I said, "What do you mean?"

"Trying to find out who he is," Yosuke said. "Every one of us has to go through it at some point, but he literally has no idea at all, and from the position we're in, we've got no way to find out."

These words rang in my ears. I rested my right hand, which held the chopsticks, on Yosuke's desk, and looked down at the platter of sushi. Sighing, I realized that I could sympathize with this. "In that case, I think I understand him one hundred percent. It's never easy to find out who you are and what role you are destined to play in society. It must be even harder for him, considering that he isn't even from this society."

Yosuke nodded. "I have to admit, I feel bad for that stupid bear."

"You know what, though?" Kanji said, "Ted's a real trooper. He may seem all oblivious and defenseless, but he's got a real strong heart."

"Yeah," Rise said, grinning, "He's always putting up with everything that's thrown at him, and I think he's the most optimistic out of all of us."

"Yeah, he's definitely strong in heart," Yosuke sighed, grinning. "Being able to stay as cheerful as ever while pursuing his true self. It takes a lot to have that much hope."

I stared downward, thinking about these words. They really hit home for me, and made me feel as if I myself were weak. After all, I had been completely dependent on their arrival in that strange world... The "TV world" as they had called it? Now that I thought about it, I almost remembered foggy visions of passing through the screen of an old retro TV after being carried from the secret laboratory... That world was apparently located within a TV. It made sense, seeing as the perpetrator was going after people who had recently been shown on television. Normally, I would have thought this idea absurd, but considering what I had gone through in the past few weeks, I had no reason not to believe it.

Anyway, I had been dependent on the others to rescue me, and neglected to think about what could have happened if they did not come for me. I definitely wouldn't have been able to face my Shadow on my own. It would have killed me before I could say another word. I sunk back in my chair as I thought of this. I wasn't nearly as strong at heart as Teddie was. In fact, I felt rather weak in comparison.


	11. The Investigation Team

When the dismissal bell rang, a wave of excitement rushed through my chest. I was one of the first out of my classroom as soon as the door slid open, and I quickly exchanged some things at my locker before heading out of the building. I high-tailed it down the road, ignoring the timid expressions given to me by the students I passed. My mind was on the case, and it excited me to become involved with it once again.

I arrived at Junes not too long after, heading to the food court, where I expected them to meet, since I had observed that they had often met there before. To my surprise, I was not the first one there, as I had been expecting. I cocked my head when I saw a bright ball of red and blue already pacing beside one of the tables.

"Excuse me," I spoke up as I approached the little mascot bear, who turned and looked at me when he heard my voice. "Teddie, was it? Is this where the others are meeting?"

Teddie seemed confused. "Hmm? They're meeting here?"

"You weren't informed?" I questioned. "They told me that the rest would meet here, as well..."

"Oh!" Teddie said cheerfully. "They must have agreed to come here after that school place. I don't go with them, so Yosuke just tells me after."

"You don't attend Yasogami?" I asked, "Huh, that's strange. I assumed that you must have, although that does explain why I have yet to see you there."

"I mean, I would love to go to school with everyone else," Teddie lamented, "But Yosuke says I need to stay here and not get into any trouble." He growled to himself, and then smiled. "But I don't mind. I love my job! Every day's great at your Junes!"

I tilted down the brim of my hat. "I see."

"But anyways, hi, Nao-chan! You're looking bear-y good today, and beautiful as always!" He beamed. "I'm guessing you're feeling much better!"

"I am," I blushed, taking a step backward. "M-Much obliged."

Teddie's ears perked up when he heard approaching footsteps, and he looked behind me. "Oh, here they come!"

I turned around to see the rest of the group making their way through the gates of the food court. Smiling, I tipped my hat to them when they saw me.

Chie-san and Rise-san ran ahead of the rest. "You're here!" Chie squealed in excitement.

"I made my way over as quickly as I could," I said. "I made sure not to waste any time."

"Let's get started, then," Yu said in his usual, warm voice. He smiled down at me as well as the others reached the table.

"Very well," I said, sitting down in a chair beside Teddie, who turned to face the table. The others took a seat as well, except for Rise and Kanji, who remained standing.

"First of all," Yukiko said, "Do you remember anything from the time you were kidnapped?"

I nodded. "Yes, and I have spent quite some time thinking about it and preparing to explain it to you." I stared forward at the table, recalling how it all began. "First, I heard the doorbell ring. But when I opened the front door, I saw no one there… Just as alarm bells sounded in my mind, someone grabbed me roughly from behind and covered my mouth with something. Immediately afterward, I was put into something like a sack and most likely carried on the culprit's shoulder."

"Wow," Rise said, "How could you remember all that?"

"The culprit seems to have used a chemical to incapacitate me," I said, "But luckily I wasn't completely unconscious. I had been expecting a trick along those lines, so I was somewhat prepared. And of course, I was desperate to gather as much information as I could."

"No wonder you're an ace detective," Teddie said.

"That ain't something to be proud of," Kanji said sternly, "You're too damn calm about all this."

I ignored his comment and continued with my explanation. "Judging by their actions and body type, I'd say the culprit is definitely a man. I heard no conversations or voices, so I believe he is acting alone. It's after that that things get murky… I felt a single impact, which I assume is when I was thrown inside the TV… But the time from kidnapping to that point seemed too short… It was a matter of minutes."

"So you were immediately thrown inside the TV after being kidnapped..." Chie said, thinking deeply. "Oh! Could there have been a TV on the side of the road!?"

I took what she said into account, but coudln't confirm nor deny it, seeing as at that point I had been falling unconscious because of the chemical the culprit had used. "Regrettably, my memory from there on is a blur..."

"I see..." Yosuke said, "But the killer came right up to the door and rang the bell? That's just crazy."

"I finally understand why you all testified that you couldn't recall much of what happened. Such a bizarre experience, with mental and physical fatigue on top of it… It's only natural to be confused. And going by the surrounding circumstances, my kidnapping and everyone else's were near identical… There is no question that the culprit is the same in each case."

"So..." Chie said, "That Mitsuo boy, who said he killed King Moron..."

"Everything makes sense now," I said. "I can't say for sure until I gather more concrete evidence… But Mitsuo Kubo's only victim was Mr. Morooka. It was a copycat killing that mimicked the culprit's method."

"No wonder King Moron's death broke the pattern in so many ways," said Yosuke.

"The question remains, though," I continued, "As to how Kubo learned of that world."

Chie looked up with wide eyes. "That's it! That's what was bothering me! Mitsuo could enter the TV, right? Then why didn't he kill King Moron that way?"

I thought about this for a moment. "I believe he didn't understand the other world as well as the true culprit," I said. "Even though I can now enter it myself, it wouldn't occur to me to use it for murder… And remember, the previous corpses left no sign that their deaths had anything to do with the other world. After Kubo became wanted, leaving him with nowhere to run, he probably thought for the first time… 'What if I put my entire body into the TV?' The bizarre condition of the corpses that caused such commotion is probably because they died on the other side… It's a simpler explanation than figuring out why the killer would risk disposing of the bodies in such a way. Which means their inexplicable condition of being hung on a foggy day wasn't due to the culprit making a statement… Much of our speculation could be tested if we could ask Kubo in person. However…" I looked down and sighed to myself in disgrace. "I've unfortunately been taken off the investigation. And I highly doubt that the police will believe any of this…"

"They wouldn't admit that it wasn't Mitsuo in the first place..." Rise said, "Once you've said something on TV, it's not easy to admit you were wrong." I assumed she was speaking from experience.

I thought a bit more about the discontinuation of my part in the case. " I believe the primary cause of my dismissal was because I raised that possibility to them. The police won't readily concede that they made false charges… All the more so if the accused is a juvenile. In fact, the overwhelming sentiment within the police force is to end this case with his arrest."

"Even if it's possible there's another killer!?" Chie exclaimed.

"Those dickheads..." Kanji growled, "I had a feeling that would be the case. Not that I trusted 'em in the first place."

"But uh, Naoto…" Yosuke spoke up, "If you were that calm when it happened to you, couldn't you have, you know… I'm not saying you shoulda caught him, but isn't it kinda sad for an ace detective to go down that easily…?"

I tensed up a bit inside. Thinking back on it, I would have wished to have somehow resisted my kidnapping and catch the killer in the act... However, strength had escaped me yet again at the time... "U-Um…" I swallowed, feeling my face growing hot and worried that they would be disappointed in me. "Um… To tell you the truth, I was really scared…" I looked around at them, hoping to God that they weren't disappointed at that failure. "I-I'm sorry…"

"It can't be helped," Yukiko said. I looked up at her, surprised at her reaction. She turned to the rest of the group. "None of us could resist the culprit, either. Don't forget, Naoto-kun is younger than us, and she's a girl."

Girl...? Of course... Again, my sex is brought up as an excuse...

"Oh, yeah, that's true," Yosuke said, "I keep forgetting when I see her talking like this." He turned to me and grinned. "You know, Naoto…"

"What is it?" I asked uneasily.

"You got balls, for a girl."

My face turned bright red and my eyes widened. His comment had caught me completely off-guard, and I was unsure of how to react. I decided to change the subject immediately, in case anyone else reiterated his words. "R-Regardless," I gulped, "I have no doubt that the culprit will continue with his attacks." I tried to calm down as much as possible. "We can only watch and wait for him to make the next move… But this is no longer a mere job, or someone else's affair." I assumed that now was the time that I should make my request. Thinking in the back of my mind about what Grampa had told me about my mother, I spoke up about what I desired most. "I want to know the truth of why we were targeted. Please allow me to join your effort." Once the words had escaped my mouth, there was no taking them back. I could only anticipate what they would say.

The others all looked to Yu, who looked straight at me, mulling it over. Then, he smiled, nodding. "Of course."

At these words, I couldn't help but smile. I rejoiced within myself, realizing in disbelief that I was once again a part of this case, official or not. I felt as if I couldn't have been more enthralled. "Thank you very much," I said, nodding to Yu and grinning, "I'll do my best, Leader."

Everyone else smiled back at me, as well. For the first time in a while, I actually felt somewhat accepted. What was even more unbelievable was the fact that I was with kids generally in my own age group. Usually, only adults could stand to have me around. Teddie looked up at me. "Since I'm the King of Geniuses, I knew it would work out this way…" From behind his back, he pulled out a pair of glasses similar to the ones the others wore within the TV world, which I had forgotten about up until this point. "Ta-da! Nao-chan's glasses!" I assumed that these could help me to see through the strange fog in that world, as well. They had round, clear lenses, and their rims were a soft, light shade of blue. I was honored that a pair would be fabricated for me, even before I was officially accepted into the group.

"Th-Thank you..." I said, blushing in gratitude and taking the glasses from him, proceeding to put them away in one of my pockets. I had come to develop an admiration for Teddie, especially after what Yosuke-san and Rise-san had told me during lunch. He was most intriguing, even more so with the way that his anatomy seemed to work. I also admired the amount of inner strength he seemed to possess. "They told me about you, Teddie. I can sympathize with your drive to find yourself. If I may help in any way, let me know."

"Wow..." Teddie said, smiling cheerfully and nuzzling up to me, "What a nice girl!"

"Just no 'scoring' business this time, please?" Yosuke said, sounding annoyed.

"What!?" Teddie exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I intend to treat Nao-chan with even more respect, because she's a girl _and_ a cool, hard-boiled detective!"

I lowered the brim of my hat, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Just so you know, I have no interest in such flirtatious matters."

"Awwwww! Why not!?" Teddie whined.

The rest of the group laughed, and after hesitating a bit, I giggled as well, looking out to the horizon, which was painted gold by the distant autumn leaves, bedecked with the light of the early evening sun.


	12. -Announcement-

**7/5/2013 - Hello, everyone! First of all, I'd like to thank you for reading this story. It has been very fun to write, and I appreciate your comments and your input. I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't gotten a new chapter up for a few weeks now, and I want to assure you that I am still writing Prince, but so far this summer hasn't been very productive for me. I've been busy with other things, and I am going to be at a beach house all next week, so I wanted to make this announcement and apologize for the inactivity before adding another week to this delay. However, as soon as I get home, I want to try to work on the story as much as I can and possibly get the next chapter up the following week. I would have gotten it up today, had my computer not restarted a while back and erased half of the chapter. Whoops. I do have it written out, though, so all I have to do is type it up when I have time. Until then, I sincerely apologize for the delay, and I wish everyone a fantastic summer. Thank you all once again for your attention and feedback! It is much appreciated!**

**-Purple**


	13. The Cataclysmic Checkup Incident

**Heeeeey, sorry it took so long! I've had a (sort of) busy summer, plus I finally got around to playing Golden! But anyway, here it is! It's a nice and long one too to make up for all the time I've been away. Sorry! ^^;**

**-Purple**

* * *

"Yes. ... Yes, of course. ... Okay. Thank you. ... Yes, hopefully eight of us. There is one in particular who I would like to be examined more thoroughly. ... Much obliged. I will see you tomorrow at three." I hung up my cell phone.

Something had still been bothering me into the next day, October seventh. Many curiosities had arisen in me since I'd been more formally introduced to Teddie, and feeling as useless compared to him as I did, I felt like I should do something in order to help him. There wasn't much I could do, but having my skills and interests in forensics and medicine, there was one thing I thought of which may have I finally got the chance in the afternoon, I walked into class 2-2, where I saw Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko conversing with each other. Yu was sitting at the desk I had sat at the day before during lunch. I guessed that it had been his seat. I didn't know why this observation stood out for me. Regardless, I entered the room and cleared my throat before speaking up loudly.

"Excuse me," I said. They turned their heads toward me, but so did the other students in the classroom. I looked around at them and then approached the others, talking slightly more quietly as not to disrupt the others. It seemed that I had become a bit too relaxed since joining the Investigation Team. "Do you have time after school today?"

"Did something happen?" Chie asked.

"No..." I said, "Rather, I'd like to have a doctor examine Teddie."

"A doctor?" Yosuke asked, sounding confused.

"You mean a vet?" Yukiko asked.

No, seeing as Teddie was not exactly an actual animal, and his human form seemed more anatomically correct, I was not suggesting that he went to a vet. "The normal kind, actually. If you're free, I've scheduled a checkup for him after school today. A thorough physical examination might be a good first step in figuring out what Teddie is. And I thought it might be a good idea for the rest of us to get checkups as well. We should see if the fog over there or the power we've gained have had any negative effects on our health. Since you all have been active on the other side far longer than I have, you should definitely be examined."

Yosuke looked concerned. "Negative effects!? D-Don't drop scary stuff on us like it's nothing…" He sighed to himself. "Yeah… I never even thought about that."

"I've arranged to have Kanji-kun and Rise-san looked at as well," I said.

"Wow, you're on the ball about this..." Chie said, sounding impressed. "Are you sure you're not an adult?"

"Her height's a big giveaway, though," Yosuke teased.

His comment was uncalled for, but true. I despised being so unreasonably short for my age. "Well..." I said, turning to leave, "I'll see you after school." I exited the classroom.

When school ended, I stopped at my locker and exchanged a few things. To my surprise, I heard Rise's voice as she came up to me.

"Hey, Naoto-kun," she said cheerfully.

I turned to look at her. "Oh, hello, Rise-san."

"Yu-senpai told me about your plans to go to the doctor this afternoon. I thought that was a really smart idea."

"Yes, well," I said, "I've been thinking about the case a lot lately, and I want to do my best in contributing to the team. I've never really fought before, nor have I used my Persona yet, but I thought I'd at least contribute some of my logical skills."

"It's really helpful," Rise said, grinning, "Thanks. We know you'll be a great addition to the team. Hey... Do you want to hang out for a bit before we head over to the hospital?"

I looked at her, unsure if I had heard that correctly. "Excuse me?"

"You know," Rise said, "Maybe go down to the shopping district and see what's around? You are new here, aren't you? I haven't lived here in a long time, but this is kind of my hometown, after all."

"I know my way around pretty well," I said, "I walk through the shopping district on the way to school each morning."

"Oh, come on, Naoto-kun," Rise whined, "It doesn't matter what we do or what purpose it's for, I was just asking if you wanted to hang out. Live a little, for Pete's sake!"

"U-Uh," I stammered, "Alright, then, I guess we can walk around a bit. I don't have any other plans for the time being. I'll just have to inform my grandfather..."

"Great!" Rise squealed, raising a fist into the air. "You can call on the way there. Let's go!" She grabbed my wrist yet again and pulled me out the front door, and then past the entrance gates.

_"C-Cut it out!"_ I wailed, regaining my footing and pulling my hand out of hers. "I'm sorry, Rise-san, but could I request that you please not drag me around like that?"

Rise laughed. "I'm sorry, Naoto-kun. I just want you to have a little fun in your life, that's all."

"F-Fun?"

"Oh, come on. Don't make me spell it out for you like in cheesy kids' shows. You know what fun is!"

I was silent.

"Oh..." Rise said, sounding more serious, "You don't get to have fun very often, do you? You must come from one of those strict disciplinary families who only accept prodigies, like yourself..."

"No, actually," I said, "Ironically, it's the exact opposite. I am the disciplinary one."

Rise walked up to me, lowering her head and looking straight up into my eyes. Her own eyes were a coppery brown, and in them I sensed much joy, as well as the torment she must have faced when confronting her own shadow. "Hey," she said to get my attention, "Then why don't you let your guard down for one hour, and have a little fun. The case can wait, and the detective business can wait. Try not being a detective for one hour, and instead, just being a regular teenage girl."

Try not being a detective? Try being a "normal teenage girl?" The words sickened me. How could I not be a detective? It was my very essence of existence; it was all I was! Still... Her words struck interest in me. Maybe I should let my guard down a bit, if only for an hour. "Okay."

Rise smiled. "Awesome! Come on, then, let's go to the shopping district."

* * *

"So, what would you like?"

I opened my eye halfway and slightly lifted the brim of my hat, which was over my face as I leaned backward on one of the chairs in front of Souzai Daigaku. Rise's cheery face appeared yet again in front of me, nearly striking a ghastly fear into my core. I felt like prey before her. "Just a coffee would suffice."

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded once. "Alright, how do you take it?"

"Just black, please."

"Woah," Rise's eyes widened. "Black? You sure about that?"

I nodded. "Yes."

She nodded in reply. "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes."

I tilted my head back again when she left, closing my eyes and exhaling deeply. Rise was kind, but she was quite a handful to keep up with. I was quite exhausted from the day's efforts, and as I realized, I didn't quite feel like myself at all. Something about myself felt different, though I could not pinpoint exactly what it was. So much had happened to me over the course of the past few weeks, not counting the entire interval of time since I had first moved to Inaba. Perhaps this was what prompted me to be so mentally exhausted.

"Here you go," Rise said as she placed a small cup of coffee in front of me. I moved my hat back to the top of my head and leaned forward, picking it up. The bitter scent wafted from the spout of the cap and stung at my nostrils. Without hesitation, I brought it to my lips and took a small sip of the hot, bitter liquid.

"Is it alright?" Rise asked, sounding slightly concerned.

I looked at her. "Hm? Yes; why do you ask?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging a bit, "You just looked kind of grossed out for a second there."

"I'm not," I said, "Trust me, I always drink black coffee." Come to think of it, I had been grimacing unknowingly.

"Okay, then." Rise removed the paper wrapping from around her straw and stuck the straw into the cup of fruity soda she had bought.

"You really got something with that much sugar?" I said, "Before we go to the hospital?"

"Yeah," she said, taking a sip, "What about it?"

I sighed. "It'll cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. You'll have to inform them that you consumed a large amount of sugar prior to the checkup.:

"Oh," said Rise, "Well, I guess it'll be fine if I tell them that."

"We're trying to test for unanimous oddities in our results, anyway," I said after taking a gulp of coffee, "One less blood test result should not defer the data too much. It would only be alarming if all of us experienced the same symptoms."

"You're so smart, Naoto-kun," Rise said in playful envy, "I wish I had a brain like that. It'd help me to at least do well on my exams."  
"Well," I said, smiling and raising my eyebrows, "As I told you at Escapade during the school trip, most detectives are well-versed with medicine, so I have been trying my best to further my studies in that area. However, this is elementary compared to what I have been studying as of late."

Rise chuckled and shook her head. "I would never be able to study on my own time like that. Honestly, sometimes I wish I had a mind like yours." She grinned, but looked down at the table in front of her with a bittersweet expression. "I can't really change who I am, I guess, but sometimes I wish I could have a job like yours."

I scoffed in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? You are an idol. You are known throughout all of Japan, and I assume that just about every girl in our school would give anything to be in your place."

"It's not as great as it seems," Rise chuckled half-heartedly. "But you are right, I know that just about every girl at school would want to be me." She grimaced as if it were hard to say. Then, she grinned up at me. "Well, every girl except for you, I'm guessing."

I looked at her, biting my lip. "Actually," I began, "Truthfully, I sometimes wish I could have a job like yours as well."

Rise raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah," I said, looking down at the table, "Touring Japan, getting to see other parts of the world, everyone wanting to be like you, or even to just see you... Not to mention getting to perform on stage in front of so many people." I sighed and shuddered slightly. "Having the ability to even set foot on stage in front of so many people. That's something _I_ would never be able to do."

"You went on TV though, right?" Rise said, "You agreed to be on that news special right before you were kidnapped."

I grinned in embarrassment. "I never said it was something I wanted to do. I would rather have not done it, but it was a necessary measure I had to take." I fidgeted uncomfortably. "That was my first time on TV, or even in front of such an audience. Well, it was my first time in the spotlight, at least. I have been mentioned in news reports and appeared on the sidelines or in a group I was working with, but I have never received that much public attention."

"Ooooh," Rise grinned in an almost sinister fashion, "Looks like you got a little stage fright!"

I blushed, concealing my face as I pulled down the brim of my hat. "I do have to admit that I get anxious in front of large groups of people, even more so when their attention is focused on me. I would never be able to set foot on stage like you do. Possibly in a group, but never alone."

"Are you saying you've never been on a stage before?" Rise asked.

"I have once," I said, "It was during a piano recital when I was very young. The audience wasn't very big, though."

"I see," Rise said.

"That aside, I sometimes wish I had the skills you possess, as well."

"It's really not much," Rise shook her head. "Being an idol isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I've got no will of my own, I'm always pushed around by my record label, I've got barely enough time to sleep, I'm always busy..." She took a sip of her drink and hesitated before speaking up again. "And I'm always moving around. I never stay in the same place for very long. I don't get to see my family very often, and it's almost impossible for me to make friends..."

This conversation was clearly getting quite painful for her, as well as myself, it seemed. "I understand the feeling, believe me..."

"Yeah," Rise said, "You mentioned you've always had trouble making friends..."

"I've always had to move frequently with my grandfather," I said, "But even before that, when he remained local for the time he was raising me as a young child, I had very few friends. No one really wanted to be around me, because I usually kept to myself and read books far beyond comprehension of any of them. When others did invite me to play with them, I was never really interested in their games, so I would often just play detective as always..."

"That sounds tough," Rise said.

"I did have one friend, though," I said, grinning somewhat. "She was the only one who really understood me. She was very intellectual, much like myself. But eventually I moved away from her, and we haven't spoken since..."

"I understand," said Rise. She looked down with a sorrowful expression.

I looked at her for a while, and then grinned weakly in an attempt to lift the mood. "That's not the only thing our jobs have in common, however."

"It's not?"

"Yeah. You said you're always pushed around by your record label. Well, that's true for me, as well. Less experienced officers on the force tend to be bullied constantly by the higher-ups, even more so for me, since I am so much younger."

"Oh yeah," said Rise, "I think your shadow mentioned that or something..."

I nodded, shrugging off the memory of my shadow. "I'm also always busy, just as you are. When I'm not going over cases on paper or at the station, I'm going over them in my head. Sometimes it's a pastime for me..." I chuckled. "And sometimes it's a curse."

Rise groaned playfully. "Like when I get my songs stuck in my head... Or when I keep going over my lines for movies or commercials."

"Exactly," I grinned, glad to see that I had lifted her spirits slightly.

Rise laughed to herself for a moment, and then looked at me with a certain glimmer in her eye. "I didn't really expect this, but it's really nice talking to you, Naoto-kun. I feel like I can really open up to you, because you understand how I feel." She smiled as she looked downward, clearly in thought. "Thanks."

"Why are you thanking me?" I asked, puzzled.

"For talking to me," Rise replied, "I don't usually get to talk to people about my feelings. The only other person I've really been able to open up to is Yu-kun." She giggled to herself. "Thank you for being my friend."

_Friend._ I felt a certain, unfamiliar emotion swell inside me, and couldn't help but smile. "Well, in that case, you are very much welcome."

"You know what?" Rise perked up, "We should all have a girl's day out together sometime."

The heartwarming feeling inside me quickly soured into a feeling of utter horror. "W-what?"

"You, me, Chie and Yukiko," Rise said, "And maybe Nanako-chan, too! We should all go out to Okina City sometime. We could go shopping, get our nails done, maybe even go out to dinner or see a movie. I'm guessing you don't get much time to just let loose and act like a girl."

"Because I don't _want_ to act like a girl!" I protested, my face growing red. "And... Who is this Nanako-chan?"

"Oh!" Rise squealed, "I forgot, you haven't met Nanako-chan yet! She's Yu-kun's cousin... But she's more like a little sister to him than anything. She's the sweetest thing; you'll love her."

I did like the idea of meeting Yu's family, but part of me shuddered to think of what this Nanako might be like. I didn't exactly trust Rise-san's judgement, and if she was anything like Rise, I wasn't sure I could handle two living, breathing canisters of overexcitement. I wasn't partial to Rise's idea, but I didn't want to turn her down. I decided to change the subject in hopes that she would forget about it eventually.  
Looking down at my watch, I noticed that it was nearly time to begin heading to the hospital. "Oh, it's almost time for our appointment. The others should be on their way. We should begin to make our way over there as well."

"Okay," Rise said, standing up and taking another sip from her drink. "Let's go, then."

I sighed to myself, hoping to God that she'd forget about the idea.

* * *

"Okay," the nurse assigned to me said as she entered and closed the door to the examination room. "Mr. Naoto Shirogane..."

"Miss, actually," I said quietly as I propped myself up on the examination table, wearing nothing but the white hospital robe the nurse had given me to put on. My heart sunk in a feeling similar to dread.

"Miss?" the nurse looked down at the clipboard she held, undoubtedly looking for my written gender. "Ah, yes. I apologize. It's just that you were in a boy's school uniform when you arrived..."

"I know," I said, "I'm..." I swallowed unintentionally. "I prefer to dress as a male."

"Ah," the nurse said, "I understand. You aren't the first I've seen, even in a small town like this." She smiled reassuringly. "It's more common than you would think, trust me."

My face was bright red, but I began to ease up as I nodded in reply. "I apologize. I have only lived here in Inaba for a few months. I was used to the nurse I previously went to knowing about my gender, but it's always difficult to transition. People always tend to have different reactions."

"Don't worry about it," the nurse said, "This may be a small town and all, but we have some of the best trained doctors in the area here, as well as the most understanding."

"Thank you for your kindness," I said, "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," said the nurse, "But, if you wouldn't mind me asking... Why did you schedule a checkup for eight people just out of the blue?"

"That's... Confidential," I said, unable to think of any other excuse at the moment, "Police business..."

The nurse looked even more confused, but obviously didn't seem like the type to pry for information. "Very well," she said, "Now, I'm going to start with your height and weight."

"Okay," I said nervously, trusting a licensed nurse, but still uneasy around someone I was not accustomed to. I hopped down off the exam table before standing on a scale she lead me to. After a few moments, she measured and recorded my weight and then had me stand up against a wall to measure my height.

"Five feet, even," the nurse said, "From the data that's been transferred from your previous health care center, it seems that there have been no significant changes in height or weight since your last checkup. Now, I'll have you sit back up on the exam table and I'll take your blood pressure."

I did so, and she wrapped a blood pressure gauge around my arm. As it tightened around my elbow, I could feel my pulse beating hard against my skin. After a few moments, she released the gauge and wrote down the measurements. "All normal."

She then proceeded to grab an otoscope and snapped a disposable lens onto it. The nurse thoroughly examined both my eyes, as well as my ears, and then peered into my throat. All of these seemed to be functioning normally as well. She issued me a brief eye test, which I adequately passed, as well as a hearing test, which I also passed rather sufficiently.

"I'm going to take a minor blood test," the nurse said, preparing a small needle as well as the proper equipment for blood testing. "Can you hold out your finger for me?"

I did so, and a sharp pain twinged at my finger as she quickly pricked it with the needle. A small bead of blood began to swell from my fingertip, and the nurse took the samples she needed before covering it with a bandage.

"Thank you," She said, "Now, I'm going to have you lie down and I'm just going to feel around to make sure everything feels alright."

I nodded, swallowing unintentionally.

The nurse slowly began to massage her hands into my abdomen, feeling for any abnormalities. My face reddened slightly, as physical contact was awkward enough for me as it is. However, this was necessary. "Everything seems to be in order," she said when she finally finished. I sat up and nodded my head in gratitude.

The checkup promised to be even more awkward as she took other measurements, including the length of my arms and legs in proportion to the rest of my body, as well as my waist and bust sizes, which were the most embarrassing for me. Just when it seemed as if the tests would never come to an end, they did.

"You may change back into your clothes," she told me, "I'll go run these results into the computer, and I'll be back shortly."

She exited the room, and as soon as the door clicked shut, I let out a relieved breath of air. I quickly tore off the hospital robe and fetched my clothes, binding my chest again before slipping on my clothes and uniform. I brushed off my hat before securing it on my head, tilting the brim down and sighing in rapturous delight. Never before had it been so comfortable to wear clothes.

The nurse returned to the examination room shortly after, bearing a confused sort of expression. "You're all set, Miss Shirogane... However, there seem to be a few difficulties with one of the patients you brought with you today."

Alarm bells sounded in my head. I quickly hopped down from the exam table and walked out into the hallway. "What do you mean? What kind of difficulties?"

"Well, uh..." the nurse scratched her head. "I'd like you to come with me. The head doctor sent for you."

"Very well," I said, "Take me there."

My speculation was that the patient she spoke of was Teddie. Seeing how all my results seemed to have been normal, I guessed that the rest of the team had shown similar standings. Teddie was the only one I could not be sure of, as he was not technically human. Sure enough, when we arrived at the exam room down the hall, I was greeted with Teddie's ever-cheery face.

"Hi, Nao-chan!" he piped up, waving as his bright blue eyes glittered like those of an innocent child.

The doctor examining Teddie looked at me with a bewildered expression. "Ah, Detective Shirogane... I apologize, but there seems to be a problem with our equipment." he took the thermometer he held in his hand, activated it as he swiped it across Teddie's forehead, and showed me the temperature it measured.

My eyes widened as I observed the reading. Instead of showing something even vaguely along the lines of 37 degrees Celsius, it read "88888."

"Is there something wrong with this particular thermometer?" I asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I tried several others, but they don't seem to work. What's worse is that they seem to work for other people, but not for him. The same happened when I tried to take his blood pressure, and my stethoscope doesn't even seem to detect his heartbeat. He seems to be of normal health according to a visual examination, but all tests we've taken involving medical equipment show no valid results..."

"Sir," a younger male nurse ran breathlessly into the room, holding a small stack of papers. "The blood test results just came back. I think something's wrong with the analyzer..."

The doctor took the papers from him and quickly read through them. "What...? These measurements don't make sense..." He turned to me and sighed. "I apologize. We must be having some technical difficulties at the moment..."

"There's no need to apologize," I said, touching a hand to my chin and thinking deeply. "If you wouldn't mind, could we run an X-Ray?"

"Of course," the doctor nodded. "Come right this way."

We made our way down the hall toward the X-Ray room, and Teddie came up behind me, tugging lightly at my shirt. "Hey, Nao-chan... What's an X-Ray? Does it hurt?"

"No, Teddie," I replied, "An 'X-Ray' is a test in which doctors use X-Rays to examine your skeletal and digestive systems, among other things."

Teddie smiled. "Oh, okay!" His face suddenly fell and he looked confused. "And... What does that mean?"

I chuckled quietly to myself. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you are unfamiliar with this world. Well, you see, the doctor is going to take a look at everything inside you using a special sort of camera. It's completely painless, so you need not worry."

"Oh!" Teddie said, smiling again. "That doesn't sound too bad."

We arrived at the X-Ray room after a few minutes, and the doctor took us inside. He had Teddie stand up against the lens of the X-Ray machine as he took several shots of his torso. Soon afterward, the images began to develop.

"This..." the doctor bore a stumped expression as he examined the photo he hung up against the illuminated wall. "I don't know what's wrong with our equipment."

I looked at the image as well. Sure enough, the outline of Teddie's torso appeared, but no bones or internal organs could be seen whatsoever. He put up the rest of the images as well, and each one was far too blurred to make out. I lifted the brim of my hat and wiped the sweat off my brow. These results were absolutely astounding.

"I sincerely apologize," the doctor said, shaking his head, "Our equipment must not be functioning properly as of late." he sighed. "I've never seen anything like this. I'll be sure to tell them not to charge for this checkup, seeing as no actual results have come back... If you still want him checked out, I could transfer you to a different hospital..."

I sighed uneasily, feeling terrible for wasting their time. "That won't be necessary. I apologize as well for issuing you this trouble."

"There's no need to apologize," the doctor smiled. "I'll be sure to have our equipment checked out. But for now, I assume you are all set."

I nodded. "Thank you for your time. Also... If you would not mention this to anyone, I would be grateful."

The doctor nodded, although his expression was somewhat confused. "You have my word."

I thanked him and took Teddie back to his examination room to change back into his clothes. When he was fully clothed, he met me in the hallway, and we walked to where we had previously agreed to meet the others.

They were all there, standing together in a group and talking amongst themselves. The mood seemed to be somewhat uneasy. Yukiko saw us coming, and pointed us out to the rest of the group.

"I'm very sorry for the wait," I said as I approached them and joined their circle.

"I'm bear-y sorry for the wait," Teddie repeated almost mockingly.

"So," Yosuke said, "Did they find out anything about Teddie?"

"They did indeed..." I said, "They found out that they can't tell anything about him. I even had them take an X-Ray, but nothing came up on it. No matter how many times they tried, it would always be too blurry to read. A visual examination and standard palpations indicated that he seems perfectly normal. Since the machine could be malfunctioning, they told me to try another hospital if we're still worried about him. I felt bad for making them go through all this..."

Yukiko frowned. "So, he is different..."

"Oh my, what should I do?" Teddie said with a grin, "They took a look at everything inside me."

"She just said they couldn't see anything on the X-Ray, you dork," Chie snapped.

"But at least they didn't find anything wrong with him, right?" Kanji said. "Man, we know as much about Teddie as we do those Personas and Shadows..."

"Oh yeah," Yosuke spoke up, "I tried looking them up at the library and on the net. Persona means something like, another personality. And I think they listed 'Shadow' under the related terms..."

"Shadows are Shadows..." Teddie shrugged, "I think they're something that comes out of people... Um, I can't really explain..."

I recalled a document I had come across while looking into information on Personas and Shadows shortly after I had been kidnapped and rescued. "I performed my own research on the incident. 'Persona' and 'Shadow' are common psychological terms. Of course, the ones we are familiar with don't quite fit those definitions. This is what was written in an unofficial project document I happened to come across. A Shadow is suppressed power, and when controlled by one's ego, it becomes a Persona..."

"It becomes a Persona...?" Kanji said, "What, does that mean they're basically the same thing? Then again, all those Shadows we beat the shit out of did turn into Personas..." He seemed stumped. "Ahh, who cares about the details... It doesn't matter what they are. If they get in our way, I'll crush 'em."

"Still," I continued, "I couldn't find any information on how they're related to the other world."

Rise sighed. "There's so much stuff about us that we don't have a clue about..."

"There's some things we do know, though," Teddie said with a mischievous grin. He chuckled darkly. "I've got a bunch of awesome data with me."

I was confused as to what he meant, and by the looks of it, so was everyone else. What could he have been up to...?

"It's kinda embarrassing that I'm the only one who had personal details shown to the world, so..." He suddenly pulled out a thick stack of papers from under his shirt. "Tadaaa!"

Everyone looked in shock at the stack of papers he held in his hand. I had no idea how he managed to get his hands on those results, especially when I had been with him the entire time. He continued with his jubilance. "Nowadays, information wants to be free! Therefore, I'll break the ice by announcing the results of everyone's physical exams!"

"Wha-!?" Chie piped up, "No you won't! Give 'em to me, NOW!" She stormed over to him, but without so much as a glance at her, Teddie turned and walked in a circle around me as he read through the results, Chie following after him.

"Ooooh..." Teddie cooed, "First place in the 'shortest legs division' is... Huh, who woulda guessed!?"

"I-it's not me, is it!?" Yosuke panicked. "Hey, what kinda things did they examine, anyway!? Look, if you're gonna blab it all..." His face contorted into a sinister smile. "You might as well tell us the girls' measurements!"

My heart thudded in my chest. Just how sick was Yosuke's mind...?

"WHAT!?" Chie yelped, "Are you a complete and utter moron!?"

"Sure, go right ahead," Rise said, a little too calmly for my liking. "My profile's been public knowledge for ages. Oh, but my bust size is two centimeters smaller than they print. My agency insisted."

"N-no!" Yukiko stammered, "Don't say mine!"

"Aww," Rise said, "I bet guys won't care what size you are, Senpai. And having modestly sized breasts like yours would definitely make it easier to wear a kimono."

Yukiko seemed so flustered that she could barely speak. "Wh-what...!?"

"Oh yeah," Rise continued, "Naoto-kun's is here too, huh?" My face went white, and I froze in place. She leaned over and looked at the test results. "Umm, let's see... Naoto-kun's is..." She stared at the paper for a while, and then her eyes suddenly widened in shock as she read it. Then, she looked up at me. "Is this... For real? Wait, isn't this measured wrong?"

This was more than enough for me. Trying to keep my composure as stiffly as possible, I quickly swiped the results from Teddie's hands. "A-Anyways!" I stammered, looking toward the others, "The important thing is that according to the examination results, nothing's wrong with our health! So we won't be needing these anymore!" I felt beads of sweat begin to perspire on my forehead. "I'm going to shred them." With that, I turned and ran down the hallway before anyone could chase after me.

I had made my way out to the parking lot of the hospital before I even dared to look behind me. When I did so, I sighed in relief, as no one was in sight. I gripped the results close to myself, terrified that anyone would get their hands on even the slightest amount of information. While looking backward in extreme paranoia, I nearly jumped ten feet into the air when I heard a voice call my name.

When I looked to my left, I saw that Chie was running toward me. Half-panicked, I hid the test results behind my back, nearly sprinting off until I saw that she was alone. "Senpai... What are you doing here?"

"Going home, silly," Chie said, laughing as she approached me. "What, do you think we're gonna hang out at the hospital all day? Wow, you look kinda freaked out."  
"These examination results are highly personal and private," I said, "I'd rather no one read them..."

"Huh?" Chie said, "Oh, you mean those? I'm not gonna read them. Yeah, I agree they're private. And that jerk Yosuke has totally got it coming for him when I see him in school tomorrow."

I sighed in relief, and began to ease up. "Good, you understand..."

"Of course I do!" said Chie, "I don't want guys knowing my bust size! ESPECIALLY those guys. They're nothing but a bunch of pervs."

I giggled nervously, feeling small in my defensive position. "I agree... Truthfully, I haven't had much experience with others my age... Let alone boys my age..."

"Ahh, that's right," Chie said with a frown, "You must've had girls all over you before... Well, you know."

"Yeah," I said quietly, "Although, I never wanted anything to do with them. They all claimed to admire me, yet they knew absolutely nothing about me..." I scowled at the ground.

Chie was silent for a few moments before speaking up. "Hey, you wanna walk home with me?"

I looked up at her in surprise. "What?"

"C'mon, Naoto-kun," she said, smiling, "You're part of the team, now. I don't want you to have to walk alone."

"I'll be fine by myself," I insisted, "Really, you don't have to-"

"But I want to," Chie said, standing beside me and punching me softly in the arm. "You don't have to do everything by yourself."

My face was bright red. "I really don't mind going alone. It's what I'm used to."

"Well, then," Chie said, "Looks like you're gonna have to get used to not walking alone!" She laughed, and we began to walk together.

I smiled softly, easing up a little more. "Uh... Th-thank you."

"Don't mention it," Chie looked at me with a charming twinkle in her deep brown eyes. "It's what a friend does."

_Friend,_ I thought, _There's that word again._


	14. Minor Speculation

**Hey guys, just wanted to mention that I'm going to have to edit some of the previous chapters soon in order to include some details I think I missed. Also, if you could leave a review about what you think I could improve on, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!**

**-Purple**

* * *

The next day was October eighth. It was raining out, and it didn't seem like it would be letting up anytime soon. The rain pounded against my umbrella as I trudged on up the hill toward Yasogami, and as I thought to myself, I realized with a groan that exams were going to begin in a week. I had nearly forgotten with all the commotion regarding the murder case, and with this case churning relentlessly in my brain, my stomach lurched at the very thought of exams. Though I always passed mine and never really had much difficulty with them, they were one more element of stress on my ever-busy mind. I felt like I could barely think about them, knowing that the true culprit in the case was not Kubo, and that he was still lurking somewhere in Inaba. As I arrived at the school gates, I spotted Yu-kun. Hoping to relieve some of the stress, I ran to catch up to him.

"Oh... Good morning, Senpai," I called out as I approached him. He turned to face me, greeting me with an easygoing expression. "Exams start next Friday," I told him, "But I am just not in the mood for schoolwork. The true killer is someone else... We're the only ones who know that. If we don't act, the case will grind to a halt."

Yu sighed and looked down at the ground. "I can't study, either."

"That isn't good," I said, bringing my voice down to just above a whisper, "If your grades drop, Dojima-san may suspect something is going on. Please, do your best on the tests for the sake of the case. Anyway, we can only wait for the culprit to make his move. We must not forget to check the Midnight Channel, too. This is a crucial moment."

Yu nodded. We both turned and began to walk into the school.

* * *

I don't particularly remember what was taught that day in my classes. There was... Something about World War I in history, and... Something about the area of a triangle in math? I really don't remember; I was hardly paying attention. All I could think about was the case. The murderer was still out there, and I was undoubtedly the only one in my class who even knew. Since Kubo was ruled out as a suspect, I was back to square one as far as contemplating who the true culprit could be. Anyone could have been the murderer. As far as I knew, it could have even been someone in this very classroom. However, with the amount of information I did have, I could deduce multiple things. First of all, the murderer was definitely somewhere in Inaba. Second, he was using the world inside of the TV as a means of murdering his victims. Third, each victim had been shown on TV just days before being kidnapped. I managed to prove this theory...

"Shirogane-kun!"

I jumped in my seat and looked up at the teacher apologetically. "Y-yes, Ms. Matsuoka?"

"Stop staring out the window and pay attention."  
"Yes... I apologize... My head seems to be in the clouds at the moment..."

"Then I suggest you get it out of the clouds, if you want to do well on exams next Friday."

I nodded. "Yes... I'm sorry..." My face reddened and I slouched in my seat, pulling the brim of my hat down in front of my face. I heard assorted whispers throughout the room.

"Wow," one boy said, "Naoto-kun looks really unfocused today."

"But you gotta cut her some slack," said the girl beside him, "She is a detective, after all."

"Detective or not," the boy sneered, "I'd like to see _her_ flunk her finals. Maybe then the rest of us won't seem so stupid compared to her."

"Stop it," said the girl, "You're just jealous because she's so much cooler than you."

I sighed to myself. "Imbeciles," I muttered under my breath.

Not too long after, the bell rang and students were dismissed for lunch. As I exited my classroom, I was surprised to see Yukiko-san walking toward me. I greeted her with a tip of my hat. "Good afternoon, Senpai."

"Hi, Naoto-kun," Yukiko said with a small bow, "I wanted to know if you'd like to spend lunch with us in Kanji-kun's class.

"Oh," I said uneasily, "A-are you sure?"

"Of course," Yukiko smiled.

After a few moments of contemplation, I nodded curtly. "Very well. Thank you."

We both walked down the hall to Kanji-kun's classroom, where Kanji and Rise were already sitting with boxed lunches spread out over one of the desks. Yosuke was standing beside them. Rise grinned when she saw me. "Hey, Naoto-kun! Have a soda!" She reached into her bag and pulled out a can of TaP soda, placing it on the desk across from her.

"Thank you," I said as I sat down. I looked at Kanji, who had suddenly fell silent and was looking away. He seemed as distant as ever. I felt myself begin to sweat with anxiety. Perhaps he didn't like me...? Come to think of it, he did snap at me quite a bit directly after I was rescued...

"Oooooh," a familiar voice piped up from the door, "Is that sukiyaki I smell?" Chie entered the room and leaned on the desk beside me.

"Yeah, but it's takeout," Kanji mumbled, "'s not as good as when you get it fresh."

"Doesn't matter," Chie said, salivating and snapping a pair of chopsticks apart, "It's still beef!"

Yukiko sat down in the chair beside me and looked up at Chie. "Did Yu-kun want to join us?"

"Nah," Chie said through a mouthful of meat. She gulped it down before continuing to speak. "I didn't see him in the hallway. He's probably in the library."

"He's been in there a lot lately," said Yosuke, "Probably studying for exams. Heh, maybe I should study more often. He always seems to ace his tests."

This peaked my interest. "Ah," I said, "Is Senpai as intelligent as I've heard?"

"Dude," Yosuke said, "The guy's a genius! He got the highest score on the semester finals before summer vacation!"

"I see," I said in surprise, "I'm impressed. Maybe he could tutor me with second-year subjects." I chuckled to myself.

"Ugh," Yosuke groaned, "I wish he'd tutor _me._ Exams are always a huge pain in my ass."

"Well, maybe if you studied harder, you wouldn't have that problem," Chie snapped.

"Hey," Yosuke bickered, "You're one to talk. Your score was almost as low as mine last term!"

"Keyword: 'almost'," Chie said, shoveling another heap of food into her mouth.

Yosuke scoffed in disgust. "Ugh, would you close your mouth? You eat like a frickin' horse..." I snickered quietly to myself, and then opened the soda Rise had given me.

"You okay, Kanji?" Rise asked, "You've been awful quiet whenever we're together, lately."

"Hm?" Kanji grunted, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't know what you're talkin' about."

"So, Naoto-kun," Yukiko said politely as she turned to me, "How do you like Yasogami so far?"

I thought about the question for a few moments before beginning to speak. "Well, in my overall opinion of it, I like this school very much. It's not as big as some of the schools I've attended, but not as small as some others. The academics are adequate but some of the teachers could have... Better temperaments..."

"Ugh," Chie said, "Like King Moron and Kashiwagi..."

I continued. "...There isn't much bullying around here, which is always great. And the events are... Interesting..." We all fidgeted uncomfortably at the memory of the school trip. I grinned to myself. "But what I enjoy most about this school, I guess, is its students."

Rise smiled. "Me too. It's the only school I've been able to make friends at. Well... At least, friends who see me for me, and not Risette."

"Ditto," Kanji said with a grin, "Hell, you guys are the only reason I even come to school."

"I sure am glad I came here," Yosuke chuckled, "I didn't really like this place at first, but it grew on me."

"Same," Chie said, "But of course, there was nothing special about it until Narukami showed up."

"H-hey!" Yosuke snapped, "What about me?"

"Can it, loser!" said Chie, "Don't think I forgot about what you did to my DVD the day he came here!" Yosuke scoffed and Chie laughed to herself. "But you gotta admit, Yu-kun really did bring us together in a way we couldn't have done ourselves."

"Yeah," Yukiko smiled, "I don't think any of us would be sitting here if he hadn't come along."

"We might not even be alive," Kanji added. "We're damn lucky he showed up."

"Maybe it's fate," Rise giggled.

"Fate or not," I said, "I think we can all agree that we owe a lot to him."

"You said it," Chie cried out, shoving more meat down her gullet.

"Hey, not to go off-subject," Yukiko said, "But has everyone begun to study for the exams?"

"Ugh, don't even mention them," Yosuke grimaced. "I wish they'd just disappear..."

"We should get a study group together sometime," Yukiko suggested. "Maybe that will motivate us.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea, Senpai," said Rise.

"Ugh," Kanji groaned, "Studying's definitely not my thing. But I guess it'd be worth it if we get to hang out."

"Awesome!" Yosuke cheered, pumping his fist into the air, "Let's bring it up to Narukami sometime!"

The remainder of lunch promised to be mildly entertaining.


End file.
